


Revenge, Interrupted

by rosepink



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Cliche, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Light Angst, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, really cliche, wanted a break from all the angst and pain, we have enough in canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2018-11-03 18:41:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 43,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10973106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosepink/pseuds/rosepink
Summary: Stefan Salvatore and Caroline Forbes have just moved to a new city after college, with her best friends and his brother. They don't know each other, and after being tricked into going on a blind date (because they would be and are perfect together), they drunkenly plan to pretend to date so they can have a messy breakup and get revenge on their friends.But they didn't account for feelings.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on this prompt: “Our asshole mutual friends set us up on a blind date and didn’t tell us it was a blind date, so instead of getting to know each other we spent the entire ‘date’ scheming against them and decided an awesome way to get back at them would be to pretend to date and then have a horrendous breakup but now that we’re two months into this charade we’re not sure what’s real and what’s fake anymore” AU

Caroline tapped her nails against the bar counter, growing more and more annoyed by the minute. She couldn’t believe Elena and Bonnie would do this. Seriously, where were they? It had been forty-five minutes and she was already done with her first drink.

She sighed and whipped her phone out of her purse, and called Bonnie.

“Hey Bonnie, just calling to let you know that I’m waiting.” She started in her most sarcastic voice. “Have been for ages. Which you would know if you or Elena actually ever picked up. You know, group hangs with yours and Elena’s college bestie and his brother sound fun and all, but how can I get to know this Damon dude if you. Never. Show. Up. This isn’t Mystic Grill back in high school, okay, I can’t just chat with Jeremy or Matt or whatever while I wait. I’m _bored_. Hurry up.”

Okay, maybe that was a little too harsh? But she was running out of patience. This had to be a new record. 

She decided to go to the bathroom and fix her hair or something, because really, what else could she do? 

She was just about to get up but stopped when she saw the guy who had been sitting next to her turn around and shoot her a puzzled glance.

He was hot. 

Like not regular hot, hot-enough-to-be-a-model hot. She tried not to stare too much, but his perfectly styled hair and broad shoulders and green eyes were really hard not to gawk at.

“Excuse me, did you say Damon and Elena?” he asked her.

“Yeah. My best friend and her new boyfriend. They were supposed to meet me here but they’re late.” She explained.

“Really late” he nodded.

“What?”

“Oh, my bad. Sorry. I’m Stefan Salvatore, Damon’s brother.” He held out his hand.

“Caroline Forbes. Nice to meet you.” She shook his hand, a current of warmth passing between them and she couldn’t help but stare into his eyes.

Maybe she was imagining it, but he seemed to be gazing right back.

“So,” she moved back onto her stool. “They just decided it was time for everyone to meet for the first time and then don’t show up? Great.”

“Yeah, Damon hasn’t been picking up my calls either. Which is typical of him of course.” He smiled warmly as if in apology.

Caroline didn’t really feel that annoyed anymore.

If the others were late, at least she was here talking to this cute Stefan guy instead of contemplating getting drunk to get back at Bonnie and Elena who would have to take care of her the entire evening.

“So, you’ve never met Damon before?” He asked.

“It’s so funny but I haven’t. I’ve been to visit them before but the dorms were different, and I heard a lot about him but we never met. Elena sent me pictures when they started dating though.“

“Same, and now that we all moved into the same town, Damon basically demanded we all meet.”

“And this seemed important to Elena, and Bonnie loves these things!”

They stared at their drinks in silence, both thinking.

“Unless.” His eyes narrowed a little. “This is something else.”

“What do you mean?” Caroline asked.

He started going through his phone quickly and then groaned. He held it out to Caroline and she saw a Snapchat story from ‘D_Sexvatore’ that featured Bonnie, Elena and Damon laughing goofily at the mall, with the caption ‘ _Set Stefan and Caroline up on a secret blind date. LOL.’_

“Wow. Seriously?!” She exclaimed. “God, I cannot believe they would do this! They know I have stuff to do, like finding an apartment and freaking job!”

“This is Damon’s plan, I’m positive. My brother thinks it’s hilarious. He’s done it to Enzo and Lexi and Rose. Practical jokes are like his hobby.”

“Wow, he and Elena sound perfect for each other.” Caroline remarked.

“They can’t just get away with it,” Stefan announced, downing his drink.

“No way.”

“They want us to get to know each other and get together, right?” Stefan said slowly as if considering something very carefully. “You know what we should do?”

“Uh, get back at them!” She exclaimed

“Exactly!” His eyes lit up. “It’s time Damon knew what it’s like to be on the other side of a prank.”

Caroline gasped. “Stefan, what of we let them think it went as they planned?“ 

He nodded like that’s what he has been thinking that too. "Let's give them what they want.”

“What if we like, pretend to date. We’ll be the perfect couple, it’ll be great, because Damon is with Elena and I’ll be with you and Enzo is with Bonnie and he is Damon’s best friend, right?”

“Right,” Stefan agreed. “He’s coming to town for some job interviews next week. It’s perfect, they’ll be relieved we aren’t mad and it all worked out and we’ll legit be the group from 'Friends'., except with 3 solid couples. For a while…” he trailed off, looking at her to see what she thought.

Caroline grinned, nodding enthusiastically. “Only, then we have the worst breakup. Super ugly. We shake them up a little, make them take sides for a bit, and get our freaking revenge.”

“The messiest breakup ever seen in all of human history.” Stefan agreed.

“And I was a Drama major before I  switched to Film and Digital Production, it should be a piece of cake!”

And then hours had passed and she and Stefan had been drinking and laughing and plotting and basically been getting along perfectly the entire time before they were interrupted by the buzzing from Caroline’s phone.

She showed the screen to Stefan, eyes wide, and motioned for him to be quiet as she accepted the call.

“Caroline, hey.” Bonnie sounded guilty. _Good_. 

“Hi Bonnie.”

“So, um, how was it? Did you meet Stefan?”

Caroline hesitated for a second, tempted to get mad at her for pulling this their _first week in town_ , but then answered in a chipper voice. “It went great! Best blind date ever. Stefan is amazing and totally not a creep like every single other blind date I’ve had before.”

Stefan was shaking with silent laughter as Caroline tried really hard not to crack up too.

“And we’re going on another date tomorrow. Oh, you’re relieved? Yes, unbelievably good. I think he’s the one. No, I’m not upset!“ 

People were staring at them now since they were laughing so hysterically they looked like they were having a mental breakdown. 

"In fact, we’re planning a June wedding already” Caroline whispered conspiratorially, biting her lip to keep from howling with laughter as Stefan brought his head down on the bar counter because looking at each other made them laugh more. 

They really were drunk as hell.

“Okay! Gotta go make out with him. Yes, that was a joke. Isn’t that exactly what the three of you jokers wanted though?” She giggled before hanging up and looking back at Stefan.

Stefan wasn’t laughing his ass off anymore. He stared at her, a little confused, his cheeks slightly flushed as if just now realising what this plan entailed. 

And Caroline had to admit it just hit her for the first time too.

They were going to pretend to be _a couple_. Which included all the cute romantic gestures, going on actual dates as well as group dates, and hugging and kissing in front of their friends.

Stefan was staring at her lips, as if thinking of what it would be like to kiss her, and she stared right back, wondering what it felt like to run her hands through and mess up his perfect hair, what it felt like to twine her arms around his neck and pull him close.

She shook her head slightly to clear it of the thoughts that were obviously a result of the alcohol, and cleared her throat.

“So, Bonnie wants us to meet her at the mall. Apparently their movie is over and they want to grab dinner.” She mumbled.

“Sounds good. Do you need a ride?” Stefan asked, gesturing for the bill.

“Uh-huh” she nodded absently.

Caroline hadn’t been in a serious relationship for over a year. 

For a second, she wondered if maybe this was going to turn out to be a mistake, before following Stefan out to the parking lot.


	2. Chapter 2

Stefan wondered, just for a second, if this was a good idea.

But then he remembered the fact that Damon had made him wait for nearly an hour, knowing Stefan had so many things to get done in this new city. 

Like get _a job_. 

And Caroline seemed funny and smart, so really, he had nothing to lose here.

This revenge plan was perfect, wasn’t it? It was exactly the wakeup call his brother, the eternal prankster needed.

He had never met Caroline before, and she was not what he had expected. Damon usually went for girls who were like him, and those girls usually had friends similar to her. But Caroline was the complete opposite.

He hadn’t been stressed about meeting Damon’s girlfriend and best friend for the first time, not until he and the prettiest girl at the bar had gotten drunk and made up a revenge plan that was genius at best and insane at worst.

Now they had to make it believable and Stefan had to pray that the random urge he had gotten to kiss her when she joked about making out with him was a one time thing.

“Earth to Stefan” Caroline interrupted his stream of thought.

“Sorry. You ready?” He asked, gesturing to the entrance of the pizza joint at the mall.

“Now or never.” She smiled, a little nervously, he thought, and then hesitated. “Maybe we should hold hands?”

He nodded. “Why draw it out? Let’s show ourselves as madly in love as soon as possible so we can get to the good stuff already.”

Except, when Caroline slipped her soft hand into his and their fingers entwined, he wondered if the fake breakup was what ‘the good stuff’ really was.

He mentally chastised himself. He was being ridiculous. He was just drunk, that was all. And confused because it had been so long since he had been in a fully serious relationship.

They walked in together, scanning the place for the group. Damon poked his head out of one of the booths and broke into a grin, waving them over enthusiastically.

“Little brother! How was your date?” He asked, turning to smile at the girl who must have been Elena. Stefan and Caroline scooted in next to Bonnie who looked apologetically at Caroline, who narrowed her eyes theatrically before flashing her best friend a bright smile.

“This is Elena,” Damon gestured to the girl next to him, “And that’s Bonnie. Ladies, this is my brother Stefan.”

So he had been right. He’d seen pictures before and recognised Bonnie and Elena pretty much at once, but Caroline was much hotter in person.

“So Stefan, did I see you and Caroline holding hands?” Elena asked curiously.

“ _So nice_ to see you finally putting yourself out there, little brother. You guys should have seen the number this Katherine chick did on him in his first year. Glad your rebound phase is over, Steffy, I couldn’t stand Valerie or Ivy. Rebekah, though, was hot. I would know.” He smirked.

Caroline glanced up curiously at Stefan who groaned. “How much did he drink?” he asked Bonnie.

“ _Well_ ….” She started with a grimace. “Let’s just say I’m the designated driver. Third-wheeling with these two has turned into a nightmare.”

“Aw Bonnie, Enzo will be here next week! I’m sorry….” Elena trailed off, totally hammered too.

Damon wasn’t wrong. Katherine, the hottest senior at college, had turned out to be a really manipulative person and the relationship had messed him up for a while, but he had been over it for years. Other than being a little wary of really laid-back women with brown doe eyes and long dark hair, like Elena, actually, he was fine.

He just hadn’t really been in a completely serious relationship since then, or even wanted to be, though he’d dated his next three girlfriends for a few months each and had had amicable breakups with all. He hadn’t even minded when he heard Rebekah had hooked up with Damon a year later.

“Hope my brother didn’t bore you too much with his brooding, Blondie.” Damon said.

“What? No, we got along perfectly.” Caroline said, and Stefan wondered if that was a lie or not. Something warmed inside him at the sight of Caroline immediately jumping to his defence.

“Oh and I hope Caroline didn’t talk your ear off.” Elena said. “Heh. Damon, we set up the broodiest person you know with the bubbliest person I know!” she said, like that was the funniest thing in the world, and both of them exploded into peals of laughter.

“So, about the date,” Bonnie started, “It was Damon’s idea but it was more than a joke, you know. We know Caroline better than anyone and he knows you better than anyone-“

“We just figured you would be perfect!” Elena stopped laughing to interject.

“Yeah, we had to try, bro. You were still strangers.”

“Oh, it’s fine, really.” Caroline said with a dismissive chuckle. I mean, other than me waiting bored out of my mind for like an hour, it all worked out.”

She looked up and Stefan from under her eyelashes and he smiled back at her, putting her arm around her and pulling her closer.

“Aww. Look at that.” Damon nudged Elena and they both started giggling again.

“Yeah, another mission accomplished Damon. Nice Snapchat story though.”

“Oh shit, you saw that? How could I not think of that?” Damon looked genuinely upset.

“Not until we had already hit it off and decided to go on another date.” Stefan lied, trying not to think about Caroline’s golden hair spilling onto his shoulder.

“So, who wants pizza?” Elena asked.

 

 

~*~*~

 

 

They were all back at Stefan and Damon’s loft, sprawled across the couches and chairs and bantering mindlessly.

“I couldn’t wait for college to end, you know?” Elena was saying. “To have my own place, be independent, have a job, and have fun with my friends and boyfriend!”

“And now we haven’t even found a place to stay.” Bonnie was sipping beer too now, and Stefan didn’t exactly blame her. She had spent the evening alone with a drunk Damon and Elena, after all.

“Bonnie, who’s going to drive us home?” Caroline asked, dismayed. She had been curled up a few feet away from Stefan on the couch, looking up some stuff for job interviews. How she managed to actually process material after a few drinks was beyond Stefan.

“Uh….” Bonnie looked like she was struggling with the thought. “I’m going to crash here with Damon and I guess Elena will too, I’m sure it’s okay-“

“Of course Caroline is welcome here, Bon-bon! She’s Stefan’s new girlfriend!” Damon interrupted before Stefan could get a single word in.

“Yay!” was Elena’s comment.

“I’ll sleep on the couch, you two can take my bed.” Stefan said to her and Bonnie.

“Huh, I figured Caroline and Steffy would sleep in the same room.” Damon said.

Caroline blushed, quickly moving her hand up to brush her hair back and glueing her eyes back on the screen. Stefan stared at how adorable she was, and irrationally found himself wanting to be the one to tuck her hair behind her ear.

Elena rolled her eyes at Damon. “They met _today,_ Damon. They’ve been on one date.”

“Hey, that’s all it took us” Damon winked at her and she swatted at his arm.

Stefan turned to Caroline. “None of you have a place to stay?” he asked.

She looked up at him, looking relieved to be back on a normal topic. “Nope, and it shouldn’t even be this hard to find a nice affordable place with a normal roommate or two.”

Bonnie gasped. “Great. Idea. Guys.” She said slowly. “What if me and Caroline and Elena rent a place together? It should be easy to find something with three people.”

Then she dropped the bottle-opener on the floor.

“Stefan, aren’t there a bunch of lofts in this building that are up for rent?” Damon asked, and picked up the bottle opener to drop it back onto the floor.

“Is that supposed to be a mic?” Caroline asked, eyeing them, and Stefan couldn’t help but snort with laughter. She gave him a radiant smile and Stefan wrote off whatever he felt to the effects of alcohol.

“Yes, I think so.” He replied.

Elena and Bonnie and Damon were laughing excitedly together, and for the first time he saw how close the three of them truly were. He knew they had been best friends throughout college, but somehow the realisation surprised him a little.

And looking over at Caroline, he thought that maybe she was thinking the same thing, as she watched her two childhood best friends chattering excitedly with his brother.

Stefan reached his hand over to where hers lay and covered it with his, smiling reassuringly at her when she looked at him.

That was just for show, of course.

They had to convince the others they were falling in love.

That’s why he did it.

Obviously.


	3. Chapter 3

Caroline couldn’t sleep.

It was early in the morning, and Stefan’s bed was really comfortable, but she was wide awake. And her head hurt a little.

She got up, careful not to wake Bonnie who was sound asleep, and made her way to the kitchen, trying not to trip over the moving boxes that littered the house.

She looked at Stefan lying asleep on the couch, illuminated by the early morning light, and her heart skipped a beat. He looked so calm and relaxed, and his face looked a bit younger now that he wasn’t lost in thought or annoyed at his brother. Or looking at her with expressions she couldn’t decipher.

She saw him shiver a little as a cool breeze entered the loft and instinctively moved to reposition his blanket, which had half fallen off the couch. As she pulled it back up, slowly as to not wake him, his eyes snapped open and she jumped back, cheeks turning scarlet.

“Stefan! Hey! I was just going to get water and you looked really cold because of the breeze and your blanket was falling to the ground so I thought maybe I should be nice and you know, fix it, also since we’re like, a couple, haha, also do you have any aspirin because I have headache, did you know I decided I’m actually never drinking anything other than water again-“

She was rambling. She kind of wanted the earth to open up and swallow her.

Stefan rubbed his face, breaking into a smile, and nodded. He got up and Caroline flopped down on the couch, still warm from his body heat, and sighed.

Why had she rambled like that? It’s not like she was new to dating, she had been in serious relationships and was still friends with Matt and Tyler, and she’d even had flings like with Jesse and one night stands like with that creepy Klaus dude at a college party who had told her she had light or something and should check out Europe.

But Stefan was different. And it wasn’t his quietness that unsettled her,  no, that she found comforting. It was how comfortable she had been with him instantly, how much she liked his laugh and how much she liked being the one who caused it, how much she liked how easily they’d gotten along when they were drunkenly cooking up elaborate revenge plans laughing hysterically over the phone call, how different he seemed from his brother, how even the smallest gestures like holding her hand or smiling at her gave her butterflies because they seemed to have _feeling_ in them.

Or maybe she was just imagining it.

Yeah, she just needed to get back to her hotel room, shower, organize some stuff, find a job and apartment and sort her life out, and she’d be fine and ready to carry on with their plan.

Stefan returned with a glass of water and medicine and sat next to her as she gulped it down thankfully.

“You should sleep, I’m sorry I woke you,” Caroline said, getting up, and Stefan gently grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

“No it’s fine, I’m an early riser. I like to write or go for a run while it’s dawn.”

Caroline stared, willing herself not to blush at this pathetically tiny bit of contact and attempted to shrug as he suddenly seemed to realise he was still touching her and pulled his hand away with lightning speed like her skin had turned searing hot.

She swallowed. “We should come up with a game plan, don’t you think?” 

“Yes. How to make them pay.” He nodded.

“It was an asshole move and we can’t let them get away with it.”

“Exactly.”

“Especially if I’m moving to this building with them, we’ll be around each other and them all the time, and…” she broke off, realising the meaning of what she had just said.

Why was pretending to date Stefan all the time a problem? It’s not like she was in a relationship or liked anyone, it was time she was the one to mess with her friends for once, and he was kind and she liked being around him.

It was a fail-proof plan, really.

“We can manage it, Caroline. Definitely. We have to convince them that we really are dating, and become the third couple in this group, and we’ll keep it going for a- how long, do you think?” He glanced expectantly at her.

Why did she think Stefan was the one rambling now?

“A few weeks?”

“A few weeks, before we have an incredibly messy breakup and the backlash will be _even worse_ since we live so close together.”

Caroline grinned. “It’ll be like kindergarten all over again, boys versus girls. Elena and Bonnie will be on my side and Damon and Enzo will obviously be on yours.”

“And they’ll feel guilty for trying to play with people’s feelings in the first place, for tricking their friends as if this is freaking Much Ado About Nothing.”

Caroline looked at him in surprise. “Shakespeare, huh?”

He looked down, smiling a little to himself. “Yeah, I minored in Literature.”

So he was a literature buff and writer. It piqued her interest, so she asked, “What do you want to do?”

“Work for an NGO, help people I guess. I know it sounds cliché, and obviously everyone feels like this, but it bothers me how much suffering there is and I want to help. Sometimes I wonder if I should publish something and donate the money to these organisations.”

Had it been coming from another guy, Caroline would have rolled her eyes. It seemed like a performative thing to say, a pickup line of sorts, to make himself look better. But with Stefan Salvatore, Caroline was tempted to believe it.

“If you do become an author, promise me you won’t compromise your creative integrity for profit. If you write the next Twilight, I’m ditching the plan and leaving you now.”

He made a face. “Eww. Vampire fiction. My cousin was obsessed with it when she was a teenager. I told her, “Sarah, if a 200 year old stranger watches you from afar without your knowledge, has no idea who you really are since they’ve never spoken to you, enters into a naïve and dysfunctional, hedonistic relationship with you while most of the time one of you is _in love with two people at the same time_ and the only thing keeping you together is unity against supernatural enemies; rather than being in a mutually beneficial relationship with friendship, support, maturity, acceptance and genuine love, _do you really want that?”_ ”

Caroline widened her eyes as if to say, _really? Wow_.

“She threw the book at my head.”

Caroline burst out laughing.

“None of this is funny, trust me.” He protested. “Ever seen how thick that last book is? It hurt.”

But he was smiling, the corners of his eyes crinkling which just made him look even better.

Seriously, the messed-up hair, sleepy eyes, and white cotton shirt that clung to him perfectly and revealed his muscles was a sight she could get used to.

 _What the fuck_ , she thought.

She did not just think that.

What was she doing? He was her _fake_ boyfriend, and the plan was to have a _fake_ relationship and breakup for _revenge_. If actual feelings got involved, it would mess up everything, especially their friends’ relationships, _for real_.

She must have been staring into space worriedly because she jumped when he asked her, “What about you? You majored in Film right?”

“And digital production. My dream is to be a TV producer or something like that, but I’ll have to work hard to get to the top. I’m looking for jobs with major networks.”

As he watched her speak, she felt like telling him something she didn’t usually advertise, especially not to men she had met only hours ago.

“But I minored in Drama and Music. I like singing. Just as a hobby.”

He stared at her, looking genuinely interested, and she felt herself getting self-conscious so she reached for her phone only to find it dead.

“Crap. Could I borrow a charger? I need to research more for the interview today.”

Stefan returned with a charger and laptop. “You can do it here.” He offered, and she couldn’t help but feel grateful for how generous he was.

 _It’s nothing_ , she told herself. He was her fake boyfriend, that was all.

And that’s what Caroline told herself when they heard Elena’s laughter coming from Damon’s room and she moved closer to him so they looked like a couple when Damon and Elena entered the living room, shoulders touching as she snuggled into him, her head resting against his shoulder, Stefan scribbling into a leather bound book and Caroline reading on the laptop, twin mugs of coffee lying in front of them.

It was a fake relationship.


	4. Chapter 4

Stefan thought that Damon and Elena honestly looked relieved at the sight of him and Caroline snuggled together on the couch at six in the morning.

“Morning, brother and brother’s new and very busy girlfriend.” Damon announced.

Caroline glanced up, confused. “Oh, hey Damon. I have so much to read before my interview. Elena, can you start looking at the prices here? I really like the layout of this loft so this building seems good…”

“Woah, slow down, Care, I just woke up.” Elena rubbed her eyes sleepily and stumbled onto another couch, grabbing the coffee and gulping it down as if it was water.

“Do you not want a place to live? Fine, ask Bonnie.” Caroline replied.

“We’ll do it! Not to worry, you just do your thing, prepare and stuff, ace the interview. Don’t stress so much.” Elena reassured her.

Caroline looked tense for a second and sighed, leaning back more relaxed, obviously relieved, except she was sinking back into Stefan and he didn’t expect this much contact and tried to retain a neutral expression.

“Okay, well could I borrow some cab fare, Elena?”

“I can drive you, it’s really no problem,” Stefan said earnestly. He had that application to complete, but he could do it later. He liked spending time with her.

“Oh, no that’s okay, I can take a cab or the sub or something…”

Caroline broke off when Stefan shot her a random smile.

He had realised both Damon and Elena looked a little confused, wondering why they were acting so formal for two people now dating.

Caroline seemed to notice too, so she mumbled “Okay, thanks” and reached up to give him a quick peck on his cheek.

He hoped to god he wasn’t actually blushing and got up to grab the keys, trying not to think about how fast his heart had started beating when Caroline suddenly moved her lips close to his, and how tempted he was to change it into an entirely different kiss.

But that was unacceptable. They had a plan with clear cut terms, and nowhere did it actually say feelings or, well, anything real. This was much-needed revenge against their jerk friends.

He couldn’t mess it up and put her on the spot just because he had zero cognitive control and sometimes found himself staring at her golden hair and had felt peaceful and contented like he never had before when he was sitting with her.

It was nothing, he was just hung-over.

He didn’t say much during the car ride and neither did she, but it was easy companionship. He realised with a stab of hope that they could still be friends; they already got along so well and liked each other, well, as _people_.

Plus they would be seventh and eighth-wheeling because the four college buddies were two couples, and that left Stefan and Caroline out a little. 

It was good they got along well, then.

He pulled up next to her hotel and she seemed to hesitate a little.

“Stefan, I just wanted to make sure, what about us when we’re not acting like a couple in front of them?” She asked uncertainly.

Stefan didn’t miss a beat. “We’re friends.” He said simply as if it was what he really wanted and believed.

She gave him a nod and a small smile. “I like that plan.”

“Good luck for your interview, and don’t stress because how could anyone not hire someone as determined and hardworking as you?”

He wondered if maybe he’d gone too far by saying that, but she beamed at him and leaned over to hug him, and his arms went around her waist and hers went around his neck. It was more intimate than he’s expected, but he was coming to realise that Caroline was just a physical person and it showed in her gestures.

They stayed like that for a few seconds, and he absentmindedly noted that her hair smelled like flowers, like their gardens back at the Salvatore Estate during the spring when hundreds of flowers bloomed at once.

She got out and made her way up but paused halfway through the stairs, turned and let out a little laugh. He stared at her in confusion, and she ran down the steps and back to the car. She poked her head into the window and grinned brightly at him.

“You know what? I just imagined Elena’s face when she hears we broke up and I let loose the drama. All of their faces, really. And then their faces when they find out we lied to them like they lied to us.”

He grinned along with her. He had to admit it was going to be hilarious to see Damon’s reaction.

“You know what we should do? Send them a selfie.” She whipped her phone out and got back in the car, and quickly snapped a picture of the two of them, drew some hearts on it, set it on the black-and-white filter and sent it to Bonnie, Elena, and Damon.

“Okay, see you later!” She pulled away and got out of the car.

And for some reason he stayed there and watched her walk away, feeling a little unsettled because how was it that he already missed her company?

He wondered if she would turn back to look at him, and at the last moment, she paused at the topmost stair and turned to look at him, and they just stared at each other for a few seconds, before she waved at him and pushed the doors open and was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

Caroline burst out of the network headquarters, elated. She couldn’t believe how well her interview had gone. She had prepared for it painstakingly, reading up on everything she could find on the network, and even going shopping to buy some work outfits.

They’d said they would get back to her by the end of the day, and she practically skipped over to the café across the street where Bonnie was waiting for her.

“Caroline, how was it?”

“It was really good, I think there’s a pretty good chance I got the job!”

Bonnie grinned happily at her before offering her a sip of her iced tea.

“I was looking at the price of the apartment across Stefan and Damon’s, and if we split the price 3 ways, we can totally afford it. It even has three rooms” She said and showed Caroline the laptop.

“Yeah. We should call the landlord today so we can move in as soon as possible.”

“This is great, I can’t believe I’m going to be living next to Damon with you and Elena! It’s like a dream.” Bonnie’s excitement was so contagious Caroline felt herself smiling. It was a good day.

“I don’t understand how you’re best friends with him,” Caroline admitted. “He’s so different from you.”

Bonnie nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, but Damon is a really good friend once you get to know him. College would have been boring and completely different without him.”

Caroline shrugged. Who was she to judge, when Damon was the reason she got to be around Stefan.

Whatever confusion she felt was probably just the result of the nerves that came from the whole college getting over, moving to a new city, finding a job and place to live thing.  

“So, you and Stefan, huh?”

Caroline was taken aback. “He’s really nice.” She blurted out.

Bonnie smirked, “Yeah. But once I met him I wasn't sure he was your type. I was surprised, he and Damon are complete opposites.”

What was her type? Did she even have one? Matt and Tyler were her childhood friends and Jesse was just this hot guy in her class. Was Stefan like any of them?

Caroline was anxious to change to topic. “So Enzo is coming in three days, right?”

Bonnie nodded. “I can’t wait for you to meet him. He and Damon were already best friends from high school, and the four of us were super tight in college.”

Caroline sipped the iced tea quietly, already mentally planning out the schedule she would hand everyone with for the move to their new place.

“Oh, I totally forgot! Damon and Elena are going out tonight, but I wanted to have a movie night like we used to in high school. What do you think? Damon has the best home theatre system, we used to watch stuff on it all the time back in college.”

Caroline hesitated. She had to organise everything so they could move into the loft as soon as possible, but that could wait. She really missed hanging out with Bonnie.

“Your new boyfriend will probably be there…” Bonnie added.

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows in confusion before she realised that was supposed to be an incentive, and she responded with eager nodding, just like someone actually dating him would.

 

 

~*~*~

 

 

She was being ridiculous.

How sad was it that she was  _hesitating_ outside the door of the Salvatore loft? Stefan had made it clear; they were friends. He’s said it with absolute certainty, and that settled it.

She took a deep breath, smoothed down her tank top, tugged at her ponytail, and knocked.

The door swung open and standing before her was a shirtless Stefan Salvatore.

Caroline felt her cheeks turn hot and stared, despite the tiny voice somewhere in the back of her mind yelling at her to chill and look away.

But she couldn’t because….  _Wow._

Was this guy seriously a model? Because those abs actually rendered Caroline Forbes speechless.

“Caroline, hi.” Stefan breathed, looking equally mortified.

Caroline forced herself to think.

“Uh, hey, am I early? I could’ve sworn Bonnie told she would be here by 7. For movie night.”

“No, it’s okay. Damon was just leaving, and I’ll stay out of your way, I was reading anyway.” He smiled warmly at her, and she relaxed a bit. “Damon, what time was Bonnie going to come?” he called out.

“8.” came Damon’s reply from somewhere inside the loft.

Caroline made herself keep her eyes on his face and not look anywhere at his bare chest and arms and torso as they stood there a little awkwardly for a few moments before Damon sauntered out and gave a snort when he saw what was going on at the doorway.

“Ah. Stefan distraction machine.” he smirked at Caroline on his way to the kitchen.

Stefan seemed to remember he still had nothing on from the waist up and hurriedly invited Caroline in and ducked into his room.

“Sorry about that.” He muttered, coming out with a T-shirt thrown on.

Caroline had to admit she was a little disappointed. And then she mentally kicked herself for thinking that.

“Looks like we have an hour to kill.”

“What would you like to do?” he asked.

Damon poked his head out of the kitchen. “You’re both acting like thirteen year olds who just admitted you like each other and don’t know where to go from there.”

“Are not.” Caroline retorted and turned to Stefan with a soft smile. (For show, of course.) “We could just hang out?” she asked.

Damon snorted again and mouthed “Netflix and chill”, but Stefan smiled at her and grabbed her hand, and Caroline felt butterflies erupt in her stomach.

Ridiculous. 

Maybe that iced tea had given her food poisoning?

They put on an episode of ‘Friends’ while they waited for Bonnie. She vaguely registered that Damon was pottering about, getting ready to leave.

Somehow, getting to lost in their charade, Caroline had ended up with her legs across Stefan’s lap and head resting against his arm as they watched TV, his hand covering hers.

It felt so natural and comfortable that she had stopped being conscious of it after a while, because hey, Damon was still around, but as the door slammed shut they both started as they realised they were alone.

And neither of them moved away.

They sat like that until the episode ended and the menu popped up.

Caroline was now staring into space wondering what on earth was going on with _her_ feelings and _his_ and the two of them, and suddenly Stefan looked down at her and opened his mouth to speak but she blurted out “Where do you think Bonnie is” before he could say a word.

He looked a little confused before mumbling something about traffic.

They still stayed like that, limbs tangled up together, as Caroline grabbed the remote and hit next.

 

 

~*~*~

 

 

They jumped a little when the door swung open and Bonnie walked in, smiling sunnily at them. “Hey guys!”

They both stood up and Caroline crossed her arms.

“You told me to come at 7, Bonnie.”

“No, I said 8. I said  _Damon_ said  _he’ll l_ eave by 7.”

“Well guess who showed up at 7.”

“Well at least you were her with Stefan, right?” Bonnie wiggled her brows suggestively.

“Yeah, that’s true” She giggled at Stefan in her best imitation of what Elena was like when she was teased about Damon.

“So, I’ll leave you two now.” Stefan said.

“Stefan, it’s your house. Would you be interested in-“ Bonnie whipped the DVD of ‘The Ring’ out of her bag.

“It’s okay, I was reading a really good book.” Stefan said, obviously not wanting to intrude.

“We also have ‘Titanic’ and ‘When Harry Met Sally’.” Caroline offered.

“I’ll show up as soon as I finish it.” Stefan said.

Bonnie nodded and started fiddling with the DVD player.

“Okay, see you.” Caroline smiled at him and he smiled back, wrapping an arm around her waist as he leant down to kiss her cheek.

They were acting, Caroline reminded herself. This was the plan, and it was time they moved further with it.

Bonnie saw them and groaned. “I can’t wait till Enzo is back.”

See? They were being convincing.


	6. Chapter 6

The first movie had ended and Bonnie and Caroline, huddled together in a blanket, had used up an entire box of tissues. Then Bonnie got a Facetime from Enzo and hurried off to another room, leaving Stefan and Caroline alone together once more.

Caroline wiped her cheeks again before turning to look at Stefan. She looked beautiful even after crying through the last hour of the movie. What the hell.

“Did you cry, or are you a robot?” she demanded.

Stefan had to admit he had gotten a little misty-eyed during many points in the movie. “It was sad.”

“ _Sad_? Failing an exam is sad. Jack and Rose are fucking _tragic_! I mean, the part where Jack let her get to safety and then died?”

“Rose throwing the necklace in the ocean was stupid. That thing cost a fortune. She could be living in a mansion.” He teased.

Caroline wasn’t having any of it. “It’s _symbolic_ , Stefan! It reminded her of him, that’s why she kept it all these years! And then she finally let go of it because she was going to meet him in heaven someday, and she did!”

He smiled at her. “I was just kidding. It’s a pretty heartbreaking story. Lexi’s made me watch it a billion times.”

She nodded, and suddenly grabbed for her phone, checked the screen and put it down, disappointed.

“All okay?”

“I should have heard from the network by now.” She muttered.

He scooted closer to look over the other DVDs, and let out a dramatic gasp. “You know what we should watch next?”

Caroline raised her eyebrows.

He held up the DVD of Twilight, and Caroline grinned. Stefan felt strangely proud of himself.

Caroline suddenly turned to him and said, “Do you think we’re doing a good job? Like, Damon basically accused us of being awkward today.”

He nodded. “I guess we just have to be more convincing. We should go on a date tomorrow.”

“Sure. Double date, or?”

“No,” The prospect of spending quality time with Elena and Damon wasn’t very enticing. “We tell them we’re going on a date and then just go hang out somewhere.”

He wasn’t being weird suggesting that, right? It wasn’t going as smoothly as it should have been.

“And we should kiss.” They both mumbled uncertainly at the same time.

Caroline glanced at him, looking slightly surprised.

He, on the other hand, went still for a moment, and then tried to act nonchalant. “Because couples do that.” He offered helpfully.

“And we just have to keep it up for a few weeks before we get to the fun stuff…” Caroline trailed off, and Stefan wondered again if her definition of fun stuff was the same as his seemed to be turning out to be.

The door burst open and Damon and Elena walked in. Stefan moved closer to Caroline and she threw the blanket over their laps.

“Hello lovebirds!” Damon said cheerily.

“What are you watching?” asked Elena, who had stopped dead in her tracks.

“Is Stefan making you marathon Harry Potter or Lord of The Rings or Star Wars again? He was the reason my teenage years were so hard.” Damon sighed.

Stefan turned to glare at his brother. Damon was just trying to act cool, his favourite childhood books and their screen adaptations were _awesome_.

“Seriously, Damon? Who doesn’t like Harry Potter?” Caroline stared at him in disbelief, and Stefan smirked. She was a great fake girlfriend.

“Is that… _Twilight_?” Bonnie asked, emerging from the room and staring at the screen as the movie finally started.

“It’s funny, okay?” Caroline said.

“It’s my _favourite_. Edward Cullen is so dreamy.” Elena sighed, and then turned around to glare at Damon. “Why can’t you be a vampire?”

“Immortality, super speed and strength, and amazingly good looks? Yes please.”

Stefan stopped listening to Damon and Elena.

Caroline’s phone buzzed and she whipped it off the table. Unlocking it, she stared at the screen for a few moments before breaking into a huge grin. “I got the job!” she exclaimed.

Bonnie and Elena cheered and rushed over excitedly.

When the girls were done hugging, Stefan turned to her and smiled. “Congratulations, babe.”  

She was smiling back at him and he didn’t know if he was moving closer to her or if she was moving closer to him, but her eyes fluttered shut and so did his, and their lips met.

They should have pulled away after that, he’d imagined that they would only kiss briefly when they’d discussed it, but they didn’t. He reached up instinctively to cup her cheek and she moved her arms up to rest them on his shoulders, pulling him in closer as he deepened the kiss.

They broke apart when someone, probably Damon- Stefan’s mind had gone blank and he really wasn’t sure- said, “Get a room!”

They gazed at each other, faces still centimetres apart, at a loss for words. Stefan noted that Caroline’s eyes were the most brilliant blue-green shade. Her hair was falling into her eyes and on an impulse, he reached to gently brush the golden strands away as they kept staring at each other in silence.

_That had been… amazing._

She bit her lip a little and turned away, leaning her head on his shoulder again and he tried to collect his thoughts.

Luckily, Damon and his banter were back. They watched the vampire movie until the end, mocking how stoned Edward looked and how expressionless Bella was and how ridiculously unbelievable the entire love story was, which annoyed Elena enough to stomp off into Damon’s room as he went after her to apologise.

They returned after a few minutes, looking dishevelled and flushed, and Stefan and Caroline immediately exchanged a knowing look upon seeing them.

See, that’s what it was between them: friendship. They were two friends, who were going to see a lot of each other and thankfully got along well, playing a great practical joke. That was all.

Elena seemed to realise everyone knew what they had been doing in there so she hurriedly asked Caroline when they would move into the loft.

Caroline opened her bag and to Stefan’s surprise, pulled out a clear folder and handed them each _printouts_ of the schedule and itinerary. His actually said ‘Stefan Salvatore’ and told him what he would help with (giving her a ride for moving the boxes and helping them carry furniture in), and the date and time all of this happened (the following night and morning after that).

Damon raised his eyebrows, giving Stefan a _what the fuck_ look, but Stefan shot back a glare at his brother. Bonnie and Elena were shaking their heads and smiling, so he figured this was typical Caroline Forbes. And it was pretty endearing. As a friend.

He looked it over again and turned to his fake girlfriend. “Cool.”

She looked around smugly. “ _Thank you_. Bonnie, Elena, as soon as we make the first payment, it’s ours. If we make it by tomorrow night we can stay on schedule.”

“Because we need to buy furniture and move all our stuff here.”  Bonnie agreed.

“Already calling my parents.” Elena started to pace with her phone held to her ear.

“I sent the cheque already,” Bonnie told her.

The girls grinned at each other and Stefan felt relieved to see things were going back to normal.

“Start packing your things, because by tomorrow this building will be home!” Elena announced.

Stefan wasn’t sure how he felt about Caroline literally being across the hall. And he hated being so confused, it was absurd.

It was a joke they were playing, for revenge.

If anything, it gave them something to do when the others were reminiscing about college or acting all couple-y.

He started thinking about the job applications open on his laptop when Damon went, “Brooding again, little brother?”

He saw Caroline look at him curiously like she hadn’t thought he was broody.

“It’s called thinking, Damon.”

Caroline smiled mischievously at him. “About our date? What the perfect place would be?”

He nodded gratefully. “Yep.”

“Ooh, second date. Have fun.” Bonnie smirked.

“Use protection,” Elena muttered, which made Damon start laughing. They really were perfect for each other, Stefan thought.

“Okay, I have to go and get some sleep.”  Caroline announced. 

As any good boyfriend would, Stefan offered to walk her out.

They got into the elevator and then moved apart, leaning against opposite walls.

“What did you want to do tomorrow?” He asked, wondering if she actually wanted to go somewhere together.

“I think I’ll be done packing, so anything, really. We could just chill in the hotel or we could roam around and get to know our way around the city.”

That sounded like a really good plan. He’d been wanting to explore but hadn’t found the time yet.

“The plan’s working.” She said happily.

Stefan was just about to reply when the elevator crashed to a stop and went dark.

“Shit, you okay?” he asked her, scrambling around in the dark for her. His hand touched smooth skin and he felt her grab onto his shirt.

He fumbled for his phone’s flashlight, and saw there was no signal. He found the torch app and saw her standing next to him, looking shaken. She quickly let go of him now that they could see again.

“That’s not the ground floor, is it?” she asked, pressing the open button frantically as the elevator lit up with the red glow from the emergency light. She then pressed the emergency buttons, but nothing happened. 

They looked at each other and seemed to be thinking the same thing.

It was past midnight, and he doubted any help would come before morning. The others would just figure they had gone to her room for the night.

And what if it was a power outage instead of a malfunction?

_Shit._

Caroline was looking more and more panicked by the minute, and Stefan asked her if she was okay again.

“I get kind of claustrophobic sometimes,” she muttered, trying to calm herself down by breathing deeply. “I’ve had therapy and have gotten pretty good at controlling it, but who knows how long we’ll be in here.”

She was looking seriously spooked as the seconds ticked by, and Stefan didn’t know what to do. He moved to a corner to give her as much space as possible.

“Is there anything I can do?” he asked her.

“I’m doing the exercises it should pass.” She mumbled.

The elevator gave another jolt and Caroline looked more distressed now. She sank to the floor and sat with her back leaning against the wall and closed her eyes.

Stefan sat slowly too, and reached out to touch her hand reassuringly for a moment. She looked like maybe she was going to cry when she looked at him.

He had no idea where the words came from, but he found himself saying, “I promise, I will not let anything happen to you.”

She blinked and shook her head with a sad smile, and went back to her breathing exercises.

After a few minutes, or maybe even hours, she had calmed down and was sitting across from him again as they waited for help.

Stefan had planned to get some writing done that night, but now he and Caroline were stuck and no one seemed to be coming. They were getting sleepy, and the last thing Stefan thought before closing his eyes was that it was going to be a long night.


	7. Chapter 7

Caroline woke up to sore limbs and a back that ached far too much for someone in her twenties. Stefan was sitting up, staring into space and looking really out of it.

“Good morning.” she said weakly.

“Hey, sleep well?” he asked, looking a little relieved to have someone to talk to.

She scoffed. “Are you kidding?”

She was tired and sore and exhausted, and judging from how Stefan looked, he wasn’t faring much better. After all , they’d slept in a cramped up elevator.

He sighed and nodded. “I’ve barely slept in two days.”

“Same.”

He buried his head in his hands and Caroline felt terrible seeing him that miserable, so she scooted over to his side and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Maybe today will be better. Thats the advantage of being a new graduate: you can sleep in the whole day.”

He looked up at her, eyes softening with what she thought might be a smile, and she felt the irrational impulse of kissing him again. 

Because last night had probably been the best kiss she’d ever had.

His eyes flickered down to her lips and maybe he was thinking the same thing, leaning closer, ever so slowly. The red glow fell on him perfectly, bringing into sharp focus his strong jawline and cheekbones. She moved closer almost unconsciously, mesmerised.

Then he suddenly seemed to catch himself and slumped back against the wall, a muscle ticking in his jaw.

“We still on for that date?” he said finally.

They were both aware of the fact they needed sleep, but Caroline found herself nodding at the prospect of spending more time with him. “Yeah, in the evening.”

“Great, I can send in my applications before then.”

“Where are you applying?”

“A publishing house, an NGO that helps rehabilitate addicts, and social services.”

She eyed him, the corners of her mouth turning up. “Hero.”

He turned to look at her, eyebrows raised, and they settled into their familiar, easy rapport once more.

“Heroes don’t play elaborate and long-drawn practical jokes on their friends, Caroline.“ 

"Hey, I like to think of this _revenge strategy_ as genius.”

“So, no boyfriend who would mind?” he asked evenly, the sentence almost too carefully casual. Or maybe she was imagining things.

“Nah, I broke up with my last serious boyfriend in college and it was hard so I mostly only had flings after.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it was right . Tyler and I had grown apart. We weren’t the same people we had been back in Mystic Falls.”

Stefan’s mouth formed a little ‘O’ shape in surprise. “I have family there!”

“Really?”

“I used to spend some summers with my uncle and his family in the boarding house. Until sophomore year.”

“No way! Wait, the boarding house on the edge of town?”

He nodded.

“Woah. How come I never saw you?”

“I used to stay in, mostly. I love that house and the gardens. Sarah literally had to drag me away when she wanted to do something else.”

“Sarah Salvatore! She was a few grades below me. How did I never make that connection?”

“Do you think the college trio know?”

She giggled at the title Stefan had assigned their friends. “Probably. They just forgot to tell us, what with all the planning to set us up and all.”

“Elena never mentioned that Damon used to spend summers in your town?”

The truth was, Caroline didn’t know. She might have, but Caroline didn’t remember. Elena had never been one for a serious relationship, and if Caroline remembered every detail of all her flings she’d have no space left in her head for information she actually needed. She’d been pretty surprised on finding out how serious Elena was about Damon.

“Didn’t Damon tell you anything?”

“Uh, I don’t think so. But Damon’s had so many girlfriends before I just figured she was another casual relationship and didn’t pay attention to everything he said about her.”

Caroline was a little shocked. “Literally same.”

They looked knowingly at each other before he continued. “I knew some people. Matt Donovan, he worked at the Grill.”

She pursed her lips. “Of course you did.”

“Huh?”

“He and I dated. Turns out he wasn’t all that over Elena and thought I brought way too much drama to the relationship.”

He shook his head quickly. “Idiot.”

She was strangely touched. “It all worked out, we’re friends and I got closer to and later started dating his best friend who was a much better boyfriend.”

She thought maybe the jaw muscle was back, but before she knew it he looked his usual amount of serious again. She’d probably just imagined it. Were hallucinations common if one had been trapped in a small space for hours and everything was lit in red?

“That’s good.” He said.

It was almost too crazy to believe, how many times their paths had crossed without them ever meeting. Seriously, the same town? His brother dating her best friend and attending the same university? 

 _Weird_.

They sat in silence. The red glow made the air feel different, like a magical world where it was only the two of them. And she had to admit Stefan was turning out to be someone high on the list of people she’d want to be with in this red elevator world.

“Another reason I didn’t really mix with you guys: I was too busy getting stoned with Vicki Donovan my last summer in town.” He added suddenly.

She burst out laughing. 

“Hey, I am vulnerable. Don’t be mean.” He joked, grinning back at her.

“God, no way!” She groaned.

“How is V doing?”

Caroline stopped laughing. “She had to go to rehab for a bit in senior year.”

“Is she okay?” He asked, eyebrows furrowing in worry.

“She’s sober now. I can’t believe it, I never took you for a stoner, Stefan!”

“I was _a kid!”_

Suddenly, there was a thump that sent her hand flying into his as she moved close into his side on impulse. 

The elevator doors slid open and they winced at the light coming in.

Two girls stood outside the elevator door, staring at them in confusion.

“Did… did you not check the buttons when you woke up?” She exclaimed in disbelief.

He blinked in confusion and she shot daggers at him, and half-dragged him out of that godforsaken place when they reached their floor.

Elena, sitting at the table and sipping coffee, looked up as they entered the apartment. Her gaze skipped the dark circles and dragging feet and stiff movements and went straight to the messed up hair and dishevelled clothes.

“What have you two been up to?” she smirked.

“Elevator broke down” Caroline said, in way of explanation.

“Worst” Stefan said vaguely.

“Had to sleep in it”

“Everything hurts”

“Need a bed now” Caroline all but whispered.

And then he didn’t look quite so sleepy anymore, his eyes widening a little.

“There’s coffee in the pot. Looking at you two is making me sleepy. Goodnight- or morning. Sleep well.” Elena walked off to Damon’s room.

“You can sleep in my bed, I’ll take the couch-“ Stefan started.

Caroline was too exhausted to deal with his ridiculous chivalry and cut him off. “We slept in a freaking elevator! We are both sleeping in a bed, okay? It’s no problem, we’re friends, right?”

She thought Stefan looked a little relieved about not having to spend another night on the couch. “And a couple” he added, the corners of his mouth turning up a little.

Caroline smiled tiredly at his feeble joke and walked to his room, feeling like a zombie and desperately needing to lie down on a soft bed. She had barely gotten any sleep the night before the last either.

He followed her into his room and she glanced around. The curtains were drawn and there was just enough light streaming in from the sides to make out the queen sized bed with its inviting comforter and pillows.

His desk was cluttered; a leather bound journal with a fountain pen sticking out from between the pages, a laptop lying open with loose papers around it, and a leather jacket hastily strewn on the side.

She was just about to comment on his terrible organisation, thinking about how different it was from her neat desk with the books piled evenly, coloured pens and stationery in their holders, post-its perfectly in place in the corner, laptop in the bag and jackets _in the wardrobe,_ when the bookshelf on the side caught her eye.

 _Wow_.

It was lined with books, probably hundreds, stacked in all directions, horizontal, vertical, some upside down. Boxes and boxes of books lay on the floor below it. She recognised some of the titles. He had everything from Harry Potter to Keats to Shakespeare. She also felt the crazy impulse to organise them, because nothing gave her as much satisfaction. She was a perfectionist to the core.

Also, who needed a library subscription when their fake boyfriend had the biggest collection of books in the country?

She turned to say something but she saw him looking at the bed, eyebrows furrowed again and his serious look plastered across his face.

“Pick a side?” He asked.

She collapsed on the side of the bed nearest to her and barely had the energy to kick her shoes off before weakly pulling the comforter over her.

She felt the bed dip a little next to her with Stefan’s weight as he got in next to her.

“Good night, Caroline.” He said, so softly that she barely heard him.

And then her head hit the fluffy pillow and it was _heaven_. She drifted off to sleep at once, warm and comfortable.  
  
  
  
~*~*~  
  
  
  
Caroline kept her eyes shut, refusing to wake up. She was vaguely aware of warmth around her that was lulling her back to sleep. She unhooked her hand from under the pillow and strained her neck to look at the clock.

It was just noon. She could sleep a little more. This was the best sleep she’d gotten since moving to the city.  
  
  
  
~*~*~  
  
  
  
Caroline shifted in her sleep, but was stopped by an arm slung over her waist, holding her close. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and felt Stefan’s chest against her back and legs against hers, and felt a hint of those ridiculous butterflies in her stomach.

She looked down to see her hand on top of his, and felt that blush that she had been free of since freshman year of high school creep onto her cheeks. Good lord, what on earth was going on with her?

They had been _cuddling_.

And she didn’t want to move away. She turned over slowly and found herself looking at Stefan’s sleeping face once more.

_Why did this keep happening?_

He looked so peaceful, not serious for once, and she couldn’t help but reach up and gently trace her finger down his cheek, a hair’s breadth away from touching him. Stefan seemed to sense her and wrinkled his nose slightly, and she suppressed a smile she might have recognised as affectionate were she not this drowsy.

She could feel herself drifting back off to sleep, and pulled away a little to turn on her side. As she closed her eyes, Stefan’s arm tightened and pulled her in closer, and she vaguely registered that _this felt good_ , way more than it should have, before falling asleep again.


	8. Chapter 8

Stefan woke up fully rested for the first time since moving to the city. His heart skipped a beat as his eyes focussed and he saw Caroline Forbes’s sleeping face inches from his.

With another start, he realised he had one arm around her waist and her hand rested on top of his between them.

He knew he should detach himself, but he couldn’t look away. Also, he didn’t want to wake her. Obviously.

She looked so beautiful it actually physically hurt his chest a little. The afternoon sun that filtered through a crack in the curtains fell across her face, setting her hair aglow and illuminating the faint freckles splattered across her cheeks that he had noticed for the first time when he’d kissed her. Her lips were slightly parted and he found himself staring at them again.

This was becoming a slight problem.

He liked waking up to the sight of her sleeping next to him far more than he wanted to admit. He pushed the thought out of his head and moved his arm away from her waist, slowly trying to remove his other hand from under hers.

Suddenly, her breathing became uneven and she tensed up, her forehead creasing and expression turning half pained, half panicked. She gripped his hand tighter.

“No, no, no, I need to get out-” she muttered in her sleep.

Stefan didn’t know what to do, and when she still looked troubled a few seconds later, he gently shook her awake.

“Caroline.” He whispered.

Her bright sea eyes flew open, staring at him, disoriented.

“You were having a bad dream.” He said, trying to comfort her.

She bit her lip and her gaze landed on their hands and she quickly pulled hers away and sat up.

“It was about the elevator. I should have known I was going to dream about it.” She said tersely.

“You’re safe.”

“I try so hard to control it, but sometimes-” she broke off with a sigh. She glanced at the clock and sprung into motion. “Shit, I have to pack and meet the landlord for the keys in a few minutes.”

She quickly put her shoes on, tied her hair, and grabbed her purse, before turning to look at him. He was still lost in thought, trying to sort his feelings out, whatever the hell they were. She got a call on her phone from the landlord and then rushed out, hurriedly telling him she had to get back to the hotel and pack her things. Stefan slowly made his way to the shower, trying to gather his thoughts.

She’d said to pick her up in the evening. What time did the evening start exactly? He didn’t want to be too early because that would look weird, but he didn’t want to be too late either…

 

 

~*~*~

 

 

Stefan stood outside her hotel room, hesitating. 

_Why was he hesitating?_  It was definitely evening, and he’d finally sent the job applications. Everything was fine.

He knocked and the door whooshed open and before him stood Caroline in pyjamas, looking stressed out.

“Stefan, hey. Oh, come in. I’ll just pack a few more things and check with Bonnie to see what furniture she finally ordered and then we can leave…” She trailed off, taping a moving box shut and opening her laptop.

“It’s fine,” Stefan said, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking around. The room was mostly empty, with boxes and suitcases lying on the floor. It looked pretty packed to him, but she obviously wasn’t satisfied with her work.

He got a text from Lexi and began updating her on his life; the city, his apartment, Damon and his applications. He really missed his best friend and realised he wanted to tell her about Caroline and the plan. Except, he wasn’t sure what he would tell her, because he was aware on some level that he liked dating Caroline. Or maybe that was just confusion because of how close they had to be all the time.

“Okay, done. Let me just change.” Caroline said, bringing him back to reality.

She came out of the bathroom wearing a white sundress and jean jacket that left Stefan speechless for a moment before he followed her out of the room.

“Stefan. We’re in an elevator” Caroline said conspiratorially. He grinned over what was now their inside joke, which earned them puzzled looks from the others in the elevator.

They got in his car and he turned to her. “Where to?”

In response, she reached into her purse and pulled out a map. He stared at it, confused. “Uh, we have like, Google maps on our phone and a GPS in the car.”

“Yes, I know, but these are useful too, okay? And way more fun.”

“How about we just… drive around without looking at any sort of maps?”

She considered it for a moment, looking doubtful, and then nodded.

“In fact, let’s throw the map out of the window. And our phones.” he joked.

She shook her head, smiling slightly. “I am a control freak giving up control. Baby steps.”

He raised his hands in mock surrender and then started the car.

 

 

~*~*~

 

 

“Left!” Caroline exclaimed.

“You should have said that before I was making the right turn!”

“This street looks interesting okay, sue me.”

“It’s a street.”

“Look at that tree. It’s so big.”

Stefan let out a laugh. It was strange, he wasn’t usually that laidback. His brother called him broody for a reason. But around her, he actually cracked jokes and laughed. 

_F_ _riends do that_ , he reminded himself. He laughed around Lexi too.

So far, they’d driven past the expensive part of town where all the houses looked incredibly unaffordable, five Starbucks, a beautiful park, and a number of restaurants that looked pretty good. They were finally getting an idea of the city, though they still had way more ground to cover.

Stefan stopped the car near another park when he spotted an ice cream stall. “Ice cream?” He asked her.

“Oh my god, yes.”

He picked dark chocolate and she picked coffee. When he took out his wallet to pay, she stopped him. “You aren’t my real boyfriend, you don’t have to.”

“It’s my treat.”

She bit her lip, still looking slightly bothered, so he continued. “Don’t worry, you can pay at our next date. I’m thinking that fancy Italian place we passed.”

She gasped in disbelief and then giggled. “Oh, really? Nice try, Stefan. Anything over 5 dollars and we split the bill.”

He held out a hand. “Deal.”

She took it and as their skin made contact, the atmosphere instantly shifted. The smile melted off her face and was replaced by a more serious look.

Stefan knew his expression wasn’t very different.

They stared at each other for a few seconds and he wasn’t sure if they were slowly leaning closer or his head was just spinning (brain freeze, obviously). Caroline suddenly seemed to snap back to reality and drew her hand back, looking away quickly and staring at the cone.

“Want to get back to your hotel so you can get the, um, your stuff to the building?” Stefan asked, scrambling to fill the silence.

She nodded. Stefan noticed she had a spot of ice cream on her cheek and reached to wipe it. She froze at the contact.

“You had ice cream on your cheek.” He explained.

She smiled and rubbed it.

“Looked like dirt.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Did not.”

“No, it definitely did.”

She reached up and poked the point of her ice cream into his nose before he could react. It was cold and he blinked in confusion.

She laughed and gently wiped it off with her thumb.

 

 

~*~*~

 

 

After half her stuff was in his car (that’s how much would fit) and they’d been driving for five minutes, the sky swiftly turned inky blue and the wind picked up.

“A storm. Just perfect.” Caroline groaned.

“I love storms. Rain, thunder, all of it.” Stefan replied quietly.

She turned to him, incredulous. “Really?”

“Really.”

“So dark.” She teased.

They finally arrived, after getting stuck in brief traffic jams, and started carrying the boxes up to their floor and into the living room of her bare loft.

When they were in the elevator on their final trip and Caroline had set her suitcase standing up so she could rub her tired arms, Stefan’s phone started buzzing in his pocket. He glanced at the box he was holding and turned to Caroline.

“Uh could you-”

Her eyebrows furrowed for a second before she nodded quickly. “Yeah, of course.” She moved closer to him and scrambled in his pocket for his phone, resolutely avoiding his gaze as a faint blush settled on her cheeks.

Stefan found himself swallowing because of all the thoughts that had arisen in his mind the moment they’d come into such close proximity.

Before she could fish it out, the elevator stopped at their floor and the doors opened. 

Before them stood Bonnie and Enzo, whose smiles quickly turned from greeting to confused.

“What’s going on?” Bonnie asked as Enzo smirked.

His ears were definitely red.  _It’s not like that_ , he wanted to say, but remembered it technically should be since they were supposed to be dating.

“Got it!” Caroline stepped away from Stefan at lightning speed.

Stefan smiled warmly at her. Enzo took the box from him and Stefan answered the damn call. He couldn’t believe who it was.

“Damon, I’m literally right outside. Yes, okay. I’ll be there in a few minutes. It’s not an  _emergency_. I’m sending Enzo.”

He turned to Enzo. “Hey man. Good to see you.”

“You too mate. I was able to make it early.” He turned to Caroline. “And you must be Bonnie’s best friend and Stefan’s new flame. Enzo St. John.” He introduced himself.

“Caroline Forbes. Nice to meet you.”

“I better see what Damon wants.” Enzo said to Stefan.

“He can’t find the bourbon.”

Enzo snorted. “Typical Salvatore.”

Stefan raised a brow. “Hello?”

“It’s not like you’re vastly different.”

Stefan gave Enzo a playful shove, glad Damon had his old best friend with him again, who was a far more rational influence on him than his other high school friends. “It’s in the box by the microwave.”

Caroline turned to Bonnie as soon as Enzo was out of earshot. “Woah.  _Accent_.”

“I know right?” Bonnie grinned.

Stefan rolled his eyes. Enzo hadn’t lived in Europe since he was in middle school. That accent was purely for show at this point.

He set the box down in the living room and leant against the door frame, tired.

Caroline handed Bonnie a copy of the keys and turned to Stefan. “Thank you.” She said gratefully. “I know you don’t have to, so I really appreciate your help” she added softly so Bonnie, who was opening the box labelled ‘Cushions’, couldn’t hear.

He slid an arm around her, pulling her closer. “Happy to help.”

“Best boyfriend ever.” She announced, leaning in for a kiss. He finally had to face the fact that he found himself wanting to kiss her again and wrapped his other arm around her waist as her hand moved up his neck and into his hair.

She was cold and pressed into him for warmth, and Stefan slid a hand up her bare back, unconsciously rubbing it when she shivered slightly.

Once again, what should have been a casual kiss had turned into a makeout session and Stefan was enjoying it way more than he should be. Again.

He finally pulled away, trying to give her space, and for a split second her forehead creased and she leaned forward, trying to resume this kiss, before her eyes flew open and she stepped back quickly, looking around the room.

Bonnie was gone.

Well.

“I’m going to change and unpack a bit. Tell Bonnie I picked my room.” She mumbled and speed walked into a room, wheeling her suitcase behind her.

Dazed, Stefan made his way to his loft to join the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If i could, this fic would just be Steroline making out all the time. Unfortunately, they need an excuse to do it, no matter how badly or how often they want to. (hint: all the time). But I guess that's what slowburn fluff is lol.


	9. Chapter 9

Caroline sat on the floor of her new room; back against the door, hands in her hair, clutching her head.

_Shit_.

What on earth was wrong with her? She was ruining the plan. It was so incredibly simple: pretend to date, and have a messy pretend breakup to get back at their friends. Key word being _pretend_.

The butterflies and all were just a… biological response, nothing more. Seriously, wanting to kiss a hot guy who’s face was millimetres away from yours and who had amazing muscles and serious green eyes, was freaking _natural_.

She glanced around the bare room and felt a rush of optimism dissolve her worry. She knew exactly how she’d do it up, and it was going to look perfect when she was done decorating, just like she had been dreaming about ever since she was a child.

She needed to get over it.

She got up, dragged a few boxes to her room, lined them up neatly, took a deep breath and then walked over to the Salvatore loft next door. Stefan opened the door- _of course_ \- and she slipped her hand into his as they walked over to their friends together.

“Look at Stefan, finally dating again.” Enzo said to Damon with a smirk.

Elena was sipping bourbon. “You’ll never believe how they got together. We tricked them into going on a blind date.”

“Seriously, I was expecting them to get super mad at us but look how it worked out!” said Bonnie.

Stefan smiled down at Caroline, and she thought maybe the tenderness in it wasn’t pretend. Or maybe she _hoped_ that. This needed to stop already. “Right. I gotta get back to my hotel. See you guys tomorrow” She started to pull away, but Stefan didn’t let go of her hand.

“Stay.” He said quietly.

“Yes! C’mon Care, we hardly ever see you now. You’ve barely even met Enzo!” Bonnie cut in before Caroline could figure out what was going on with Stefan.

Okay, she had a point. Caroline sighed and nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

Elena gasped. “You know what we should do?”

“Get wasted and roam around half naked now that we have the entire floor to ourselves?” Damon suggested.

“Uh, no, maybe another day. I was thinking, let’s sit outside and look at the stars.”

“Good idea, except where, and what stars? It’s cloudy.” Bonnie replied.

“I’m pretty sure saw a park near the building,” Stefan said.

Elena whipped out her phone. “The sky is supposed to clear up in an hour, I checked.”

“I second this plan” Enzo nodded.

“Oh yeah, because the weather is _perfect_ for sitting in the grass outside,” Caroline said sarcastically. “There’s always the rooftop too, let’s carry up some blankets so we at least have temporary shelter when it pours.”

“This weather is so great. The clouds are gray and it’s windy and the earth smells like rain. And if it really rains then we can always run back to the building” Stefan said.

Caroline looked up at him in surprise. He was _agreeing_? It was kind of risky; they could catch colds.  _Okay fine_ , she admitted to herself with difficulty, she was slightly nervous to be alone with Stefan again. She didn’t trust herself with him anymore. She hated a plan not being carried out properly, and now it was on her and the worst part was she couldn’t even help it. “It’s so late…” she suggested weakly.

Stefan’s eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head quickly. “Of course, you should rest. I can-“

“Oh little brother, we all know how eager you must be to get Blondie alone in her lovely hotel room again, but this is Enzo’s first night here. Come on, for old times’ sake.”

“We can’t just get drunk in a park and not sleep on time, okay? We’re adults, not rebellious teenagers.” Caroline said.

“Because we have so much to do, like studying or going to work. Oh wait, we’ve graduated and none of us have to actually show up at our jobs yet.” Elena shot back.

“If we have them.” Bonnie muttered.

“It’s settled!” Damon announced.

Bonnie and Enzo went to grab some alcohol from the moving boxes and put them in plastic bags, while Damon and Elena got three blankets and handed one to Stefan and Caroline.

“Only one?” Caroline asked.

“Yeah, why would we need more?” Elena smirked.

Of course they’d have to share the blanket. They were the newest couple in the group, weren’t they? She smiled stiffly at Elena and turned around to go, Stefan trailing behind her.

“Hey, Caroline.” He started hesitantly as soon as they were out of earshot, watching her carefully. “If this is too much for one day, I can get us out of it. I understand, maybe this isn’t what you signed up for, and maybe revenge isn’t all that…”

Caroline stared at him, uneasiness taking root somewhere in her stomach and slowly, agonizingly, unfurling itself throughout her. She felt a small, anxious lump in her throat. Was he backing out? Did he not want to do this, spend time with her, anymore? Was he tired of their fake relationship; the kissing and holding hands and cuddling?

_And why did these scenarios bother her so much?_

Here he was, giving her an out for the night, something she had so badly wanted up until a few seconds ago. And now? Not so much anymore. She hated how she was feeling. Out of control, out of character, an absolute mess.

“Caroline?” Stefan asked, looking a little worried now. The hesitant smile on his face sent another wave of uneasiness crashing through her. _This was the worst._

She had so many conflicting emotions running through her mind at warp speed that she said the first thing that came to her mind. “No, it’s fine. I like the plan.”

Did she actually mean it? Or was she being her usual self and overthinking it? Maybe her new and erratic sleep pattern was getting to her. Yes, that was it. She relaxed and smiled reassuringly at him, and he nodded and grinned back.

She walked over to Bonnie, and chatting with her best friend helped Caroline successfully get her mind off whatever was going on with her feelings about Stefan and how mad she was at herself for mentally ruining a perfectly good friendship. And partnership. A platonic, revenge-based partnership.

 

 

~*~*~

 

 

They walked to the park, Bonnie and Enzo leading the way, holding hands as Bonnie nuzzled into him. Caroline smiled. She was so glad her best friend was happy and with her boyfriend again.

The brothers were light-heartedly arguing over who was in charge of unpacking the next day. Elena walked next to her, telling her about Jeremy’s latest drama (he was hooking up with Sarah, Damon’s cousin. Caroline found it a bit strange that two half-siblings were dating two cousins, but Damon and Elena didn’t seem to care much.)

Caroline turned to her and blurted out, “How do you know if you’re falling for someone, like _for real_?”

Elena shot her a puzzled grin. “I see. That fast, huh? Well, I guess it’s the little things. You always want to be around them. Talking to them is as good as talking to your best friends, but in a different way. You want to cuddle with them all the time but you also want to slam them against a wall and-“

“Okay! Got it, thanks.” Caroline interrupted hastily, blushing furiously because of the image that had popped into her mind.

Elena smiled at her best friend. “Don’t stress, Care. He’s a great guy, and super hot, and obviously as whipped as you are.”

Caroline looked at her, dumbfounded. Stefan, _whipped_? Was he really that good an actor?

“What do you mean?” She tried to sound nonchalant.

“Oh, you know what I mean.” Elena wriggled her eyebrows ridiculously. “Feelings, maybe even loooove…” she laughed and Caroline couldn’t help but join in.

Damon caught up to them and draped an arm over Elena’s shoulder. Elena giggled and reached up to kiss him, and Caroline looked away feeling slightly awkward, when she felt an arm around her waist and her stomach swooped at the touch.

“Hey.” He said, gazing softly at her.

“Hey.” She replied with a smile. He returned the smile and everything was okay again, _normal_ between them again. She had just been overthinking as usual.

The park was deserted and overgrown, because it was _abandoned_ , she realised. No wonder it was in a corner next to some lofts. It was dimly lit by a solitary streetlight nearby, and just like Elena had said, the dark clouds were parting to reveal a full moon and tiny silver pinpricks scattered across the sky.

Enzo had spread a blanket behind a huge tree, and as she watched Bonnie walk to him with a bottle of wine, Caroline knew she wouldn’t see them again for a while.

“It’s been real. Have fun you two.” Damon said as Elena pulled him behind another tree.

Stefan and Caroline were left standing alone together in the clearing.

“So, no group bonding or anything, then?” Stefan called out.

“This is more romantic!” came Elena’s voice from behind the tree, as Bonnie’s laughter emerged from a different direction.

Caroline was glad for the windy night drowning almost everything else out. Just to be safe, she set down the Bluetooth speaker they’d brought along in the middle of the clearing and put it on radio mode.

She turned around to Stefan, who had been watching her. “Good idea.” He said. “Where do you want to sit?”

Caroline looked around. It felt weird to sit in the clearing, so she gestured to the tall bushes to her left. Stefan set the blanket down, took a swig of the vodka, and offered her the bottle. She followed suit, welcoming the burn.

They sat with their backs leaning against the bush for a while, quietly listening to the music, when the wind picked up more and Caroline shivered. She really should have brought a sweater.

Stefan glanced at her and shrugged his leather jacket off, handing it to her.

“Oh no, it’s okay-“ Caroline started.

“Hey, what are boyfriends for?”

And it was the first time he’d referred to himself as that, no one was around, and it probably meant nothing but her chest ached dully anyway. The jacket was warm and smelled like him, and she downed some more vodka which thankfully dissolved some of her angst-filled thoughts.

“Okay, the branches poke.” She muttered, shifting to lie down on the blanket instead. “Much better.” She sighed.

Stefan did the same, and they lay next to each other staring at the night sky.

“Know any constellations?” she asked, because that felt like the right thing to say in the current situation.

“Uh… no.” he admitted, concentrating on the sky. “Maybe the really bright one is part of Ursula Major. Or the north star? Or maybe it’s Mars. Either way, the sky is pretty.”

The moonlight glinted in his hair and cast shadows on the planes of his face as she replied, “It is.”

Then he started laughing and so did she, both drunk.

After a minute or two of laughter, he asked, “Why are we laughing?”

“Because that always happens in movies and stuff, you know? The crash course on stars before the couple starts making out.”

Everything stilled and she wondered how she had actually said something like that. He rolled over on his side and looked at her, his expression intense but unreadable. “Yeah” he all but whispered.

His hand came to rest on her side as she moved onto her side too and reached up to cup the back of his neck, marvelling at how beautiful he looked in the moonlight. Almost otherworldly. The alcohol had made her light-headed, and she saw him swallow before licking his lips, looking at her with that deliberating gaze.

The music from the speakers suddenly grew louder, hitting the crescendo.

_Hold me tight, and we will move as one in the changing tides…_

That was it. Relatively freer of her usual constraints, she grabbed his collar and brought his lips crashing down on hers. He responded eagerly, slipping a finger under her chin and tilting her face up as he moved on top of her, deepening the kiss. Caroline’s hands wandered up his shirt and glided over his back and then to the ridges on his torso, which made him kiss her harder.

It wasn’t their first kiss, but it was the first time they were truly alone, and they were both drunk and it felt _incredible_.

Caroline rolled on top of him, hands in his hair, finally getting the chance to mess it up, something she’d fantasised about the first time she’d met him. She broke away, coming up for air, and before she could start thinking about what just happened, Stefan’s hands were sliding up her top and pulling her towards him. The moonlight wasn’t so light anymore. She leaned down, the kiss growing hungrier and not at all something that would fall in the fake or platonic category.

It hadn’t been a fake dating kiss. Not even close.

Suddenly, she heard a strangely familiar roar in the distance. They pulled away quickly, and Stefan’s eyes widened as they both realised what the sound meant.

“Cloudburst” he said hoarsely.

Caroline had just gotten to her feet when the cold rain came beating down on them.

She grabbed the bottle as Stefan took the blanket, and hand in hand, they ran, past the clearing- where Elena was shoving the speakers into the bag while Damon stared bleakly at the sky- and into the empty street where Bonnie and Enzo ran ahead of them, Enzo’s blanket around his shoulders like a cape.

What had her life become?


	10. Chapter 10

Stefan closed the door behind Caroline and glanced around his bedroom, trying not to stare at the wet dress clinging to her body as she took her jacket off, shivering as she rubbed her bare arms.

He was still drunk.

She turned around and looked at him. Unconsciously, he felt himself stepping towards her, thoughts impossibly disorganised. She moved closer too and her hand brushed against his. He started. “Your hands are freezing!”

She nodded absently. 

He took her hand between his, vaguely noticing once again how his engulfed hers, and rubbed, warming it up. “Don’t wanna catch a cold.” He said, as much to himself as he did to her.

When it was warm enough, she held up her other hand. “Couples help warm each other,” she said. “Being realistic.”

Stefan found himself smiling back as he rubbed her other hand. Soon enough, they were standing there, hands clasped in between them, staring at each other. 

The mood shifted.

His gaze instinctively dropped to her lips which parted a little and an image of them making out against the wardrobe popped into his mind. Her expression became more intense and both of their breathing became uneven.

The kiss in the park had been mind-blowing. He hadn’t felt like that in ages, that mixture of lust and feelings, and now standing in front of her in a dimly lit room it was all he could think about, and given the way she was staring at him, so was she.

Then her hands were on the back of his neck and she was kissing him, pushing him against the wall, and the hunger and chills he’d felt earlier were back. His hands were in her soft hair and he kissed her back, mind going blank as she pressed her body against his, all burning pleasure in the pit of his stomach.

She broke the kiss as Stefan pulled his soaked jacket off, tugging at the sleeves to help him, and as soon as it had hit the floor his hands were holding her face, and they gazed at each other for a split second, pupils dilated, before their lips crashed together again, passionate and urgent.

The voice in the back of his mind telling him this shouldn’t be happening was so faint it need not have existed.

He pushed her against the wardrobe, and as they slammed into it the soda bottle fell off the table next to them but neither of them cared. She grabbed his face and pulled him closer as his hand snaked up her back and was in her golden waves again, moving instinctively as they kissed headily, the air getting more and more charged. He felt her hand on his elbow, gripping it tight, and then he lifted her up, her back pressed against the wardrobe and legs wrapped around his waist.

He wasn’t sure what was more intoxicating, the alcohol or Caroline. It was happening too fast and felt too good and he didn’t want to stop or think, just give in to the pure lust that ran through his every nerve ending. She gripped his hair again as he carried her over to the bed and lowered them onto it, gripping the small of her back, firmly pulling her into him. Their hips were pressed together, and he felt another current of aching desire as he felt her leg slide up his.

Her hands were on his belt, the movements halting yet urgent, as he reached to pull his shirt over his head. Caroline’s hands stilled as she gazed at his torso, eyes darkening, and the look on her face made him reach down to kiss her again, slowly and softly this time, his hands gliding up her damp dress, against her silky smooth, burning skin, making her let out a little gasp.

The sound nearly drove him crazy, and he moved his lips to her delicate, pale neck, wanting to hear it again. He worked at it for a few seconds, her breathing growing more erratic, littered with sighs as her legs wrapped around his.

Suddenly, there was a sharp knock on the door.

“Caroline, have you changed yet? We’re waiting” came Bonnie’s voice.

They snapped back to reality. Stefan pulled away and scrambled off the bed as she sat up, both wide-eyed and struggling to think a coherent thought.

“Uh… could I borrow some clothes?” She mumbled.

“Yeah” he replied throatily. He busied himself with looking through a half-unpacked suitcase for clothes and handed her a hoodie and sweatpants. “Sorry, it might be too big…”

“That’s okay.” She looked a little discomposed and incredibly beautiful with her hair tangled up and cheeks flushed. He wondered what she was thinking, how she was processing this.

He moved away swiftly. “So yeah, tell me if you need different clothes.”

She nodded and went into the bathroom, and he sank down against the bed, clutching his head that felt way too light.

_What the fuck had just happened?_

He went to the living room, where Bonnie and Enzo stood at the front door, waiting for Caroline and Elena to drop them back to their hotels. Luckily, they were too busy talking to each other, but Enzo smirked slightly on seeing Stefan.

“Okay, never doing that again.” Bonnie said on seeing Stefan.

“Come on love, it wasn’t that bad.” Enzo said.

“That’s because you barely drank. And you lived in London. We aren’t used to freak showers!”

“Bonnie’s right. Rain is fun until you’re soaked and shivering and running to your building late at night.” Stefan said.

Elena joined them, eating a granola bar in hopes of avoiding a hangover. “Ugh. I don’t care about the moving schedule, I’m sleeping in tomorrow.”

“You have my permission” came Caroline’s voice from behind him. She stood in the doorway of his room, refusing to meet his gaze. Stefan liked the sight of her in his oversized hoodie way more than he should have and cleared his throat.

“I’m turning in for tonight,” Stefan said.

“See you, mate. Next time you’re the designated driver.” Enzo muttered.

“Goodnight.” Stefan said, before turning to Caroline and awkwardly mumbling “Bye babe”

Finally, she looked up at him, her expression guarded. “See you tomorrow.” She said.

He nodded and made his way to his room, grabbed a change of clothes and locked himself in the bathroom. He stood gripping the sink, staring into space. His clothes were still damp and cold but he didn’t move to take them off.

His inebriated mind tried sorting through the rollercoaster of emotions he’d felt since Caroline had walked back into his loft that night, actively trying to ignore what had just happened minutes ago.

They’d had fun in the day, exploring the city, and he’d been able to chalk his feelings off to friendship until they’d kissed in her loft. She was a really good kisser.

She was distant after that, so reluctant to go to the old park, that he thought she wasn’t comfortable with the plan anymore and wanted out, but she refused when he offered.

And then before he knew it they were drunk and lying under the stars with nature around them and music playing in the background and it was like everything else had stopped existing at it was just them in the entire universe. Him and Caroline and the stormy night sky and the overgrown greenery. It had felt magical, like they could have been at any point in history. It felt new but also a thousand years old.

Wow, he was _wasted_.

And then she was talking about making out and seemed to glow in the moonlight and her hand was behind his neck and his was on her waist and then they were kissing. It happened so fast, so naturally, he didn’t even question or fully process it. And they didn’t stop. And they weren’t going to, had it not started pouring. He realised that he didn’t want to. Just like back in his room. And he had a feeling she didn’t feel the same way, that it had just been the alcohol on her side.

He shook his head, suddenly unsettled and angry at himself, forced himself to change, and then collapsed on the bed, pulling the comforter over him. Immediately, he noticed something was different, but it took a few seconds for his vodka addled mind to put his finger on it.

The sheets smelled like Caroline. Also her perfume. And now he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

As sleep weighed down Stefan’s eyelids and he began drifting off, he hoped in vain he wouldn’t dream of Caroline Forbes.  
  
  
  
~*~*~  
  
  
  
Stefan awoke to a pounding headache and stumbled outside, running into a coffee-bearing Damon. “Hello, brother. Here, it’ll help with the hangover.”

Stefan groaned and took it, forcing himself to drink. Unsurprisingly, now that he was once again capable of rational thought, his thoughts jumped straight to Caroline.

They were, _he was_ breaking the unspoken rules. Earlier in the evening, her reluctance had made it clear that she wasn’t okay with being so close all the time when Elena and Bonnie practically had to drag her outside. Whatever he felt or was starting to feel had to take a backseat. It was nothing more than a fake relationship, and he had to give her space. Something like that kiss couldn’t happen again.

Last night was intense and amazing and _wrong_. His feelings, knowing he was ruining the pact and being unfair to her, unnerved him. What he refused to admit scared him the most was the thought that maybe he was starting to feel something for her as a product of the fake relationship and she didn’t; that it was all the plan to her, a plan that seemed to be getting too much. It made his chest ache a bit.

He decided he wasn’t going to drink again as long as they were dating. It wasn’t worth the risk.

“So, how are things with Caroline?” Damon smirked.

“Good.” He answered tersely. “You and Elena?”

“Great. So, have you two sealed the deal yet?”

Stefan flashed his brother a look and Damon held his hands up in mock surrender. “Oh, my bad. Forgot it was you I was talking to. So, do you _loooove_ her yet?”

Stefan’s head snapped up in surprise.

The question unsettled him. Seeing his clenched jaw, Damon mouthed “Okay then” and told him to call their mother who had been wondering why he wasn’t picking up his phone.

“We haven’t been to Mystic Falls in so long.” Stefan sighed.

“I miss the boarding house. And Sarah.”

Stefan nodded. “I’m glad she’s happy after the divorce.”

Damon smiled at his brother. “Just wish she’d moved there when we were kids. Who knows, we could have met the others ages ago.”

That was another thought that gave him a strange feeling. He changed the subject quickly. ”We wouldn’t have ever met Lexi. I miss her.”

“And Rose.” Damon added.

Stefan went to shower, and after eating the waffles his brother so obligingly made him, played some Xbox with Damon before he remembered the time. He quickly dialled Caroline’s number, ignoring his ridiculous sweaty palms and nervousness.

_Was he twelve?_

“Hi Stefan” she sounded completely normal, like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. He was taken aback and wished he could see her face, try and gauge what was going on from her expression.

“Hey. What time should I come to pick up the rest of your stuff?”

“Oh that’s okay, Enzo already dropped it to the loft a few hours ago.”

“Uh, okay.”

“So… what are you going to do today?”

“Read, wait to hear back and see if I got a job, skype Lexi I guess. You?”

Her voice perked up. “Girls’ day! I’m checking out right now, and we’re going shopping before we officially move into the loft.”

Right. She was moving to his floor. He swallowed. “Great.”

Caroline’s tone changed. “Stefan, about last night…”

So she did remember. “It was just the alcohol.” He added swiftly.

Silence. He wished once more that he could see her face right now. “Yeah, of course. The plan is still on, right?”

“Yes, we’re doing a pretty good job I think.”

_Maybe too good a job._ Now she seemed to want the plan? The mixed signals were confusing the hell out of him.

“Okay, see you later.” She hung up.

Stefan stared at his phone and then flopped back onto the couch. He picked up the laptop and saw Lexi online. He called her and seconds later, her familiar face popped up on the screen.

“Stefan!” she beamed.

“Hey Lex!”

“Oh my god, how are you? Why do you have dark circles?”

“Long story.”

“Do tell, I’m bored.”

Stefan looked around, and saw Damon’s door ajar, so he walked into his room and closed the door. “So.” He started. “Do you know what Damon and Bonnie and Elena pulled on me my first week in town?”

“Knowing your brother, a prank?” she ventured.

“Exactly. And not just on me, on their best friend too. Her name is Caroline and they set us up on a blind date.”

Lexi’s eyes widened. “Oooh, is she hot?”

Stefan realised for the first time he could just be honest about all of this. “Yeah.”

“So are you two dating, then?”

And then he was telling her about the whole plan, the words spilling out now that he could finally tell someone about it.

“And yesterday, we got drunk and made out twice.” He concluded.

Lexi pursed her lips.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Uh. Okay. Stefan, it’s an interesting plan. God knows Damon has it coming, but be careful, because you could be way in over your head before you know it.”

Stefan scoffed. “I’m fine.”

She nodded. “I hope so.”

He looked away.

“What?” Lexi asked with narrowed, scrutinising eyes.

“I’m kind of confused.” He admitted mournfully. “I don’t know what’s real or not, from my side and hers, and yesterday neither of us stopped. And I didn’t want to.”

Lexi’s expression softened on seeing his face. “Cheer up. Maybe it was just the alcohol.”

“I don’t want to be that guy, put her on the spot and ruin our friendship by wanting more. Especially given how we’re fake dating, it’s completely unfair.”

It felt good to finally voice that.

She sighed. “How long until this ends?”

Stefan thought. “We’d decided on a month or two. It’s been like five days.”

Lexi was deep in thought and suddenly glanced at her watch. “Oh, time for work. Listen, don’t stress out or turn into dark broody Stefan. Maybe you’re overthinking. Wait to see how things are when you’re both sober, and hang in there. I’ll call you when I get back, okay.”

“Bye.” He smiled at his best friend.

_Yeah_ , he thought as the screen turned black.

_Hang in there_. Maybe it was nothing.


	11. Chapter 11

Caroline checked out of her hotel and met up with Elena and Bonnie in the lobby. They grinned excitedly at each other, knowing this was it: the beginning of next chapter of their lives, and Caroline was ready. She had an apartment, a job, her best friends and a boyfriend.

Well, fake boyfriend, but her life was on track nonetheless.

“So, where to first?” Bonnie asked.

“I need new clothes!” Elena said.

“Hello, we just moved here. We need to buy groceries and practical stuff, like, I don’t know, lamps.” Caroline added.

They agreed and a short subway ride later they were at the mall and shopping to their heart’s content. 

Elena ducked into the nearest clothes boutique, promising to be back in twenty minutes tops, while Bonnie helped Caroline pick out the prettiest decorative items from a home décor shop.

After plenty of easy conversation—it really felt like they’d been together the last four years and she was so grateful for that because she wouldn’t know what to do without Elena and Bonnie in her life—Caroline broached the subject she thought was the reason Bonnie looked troubled.

“How’s the job search going?”

Bonnie bit her lip as she surveyed a white and golden vase. “Okay. I had that interview at a preschool today and I think the dean liked me.”

“You’re amazing, of course she did!” Caroline couldn’t help but voice some of her innate optimism. She hated seeing Bonnie stressed.

“If it doesn’t work out, I can always go work for Grams in her psychic shop.” She muttered as they headed to the checkout counter. 

“Let’s be logical. There has to be _at least_ one school in this entire city that will hire you. And you have a good resume.”

Bonnie cheered up a little. “Yeah!”

“Okay, now let’s find Elena. I need food.”

“Don’t we also need plates and cutlery and all?”

Caroline grinned. “Oh my god, this is so exciting. It’s like when I played house with my dolls as a kid, but this time it’s real!”

“I remember your dollhouse. It was so organised and elaborate, I don’t know if it was impressive or terrifying”

Caroline whacked her arm playfully. “It was the best dollhouse in town.”

“So impressive _and_ terrifying I guess.”

Caroline opened her mouth to inform Bonnie of the fact that everyone in their class had been jealous of what Caroline had done with her toys and it was a remarkable feat for a pre-schooler, when Elena walked up to them with three large Walmart bags.

“Surprise! I went grocery shopping. Here is literally everything we could ever need. I even bought three boxes of Nerds.”

Caroline laughed. “Woah, thank you!”

“Even utensils and plates et cetera?” Bonnie asked.

“Yes, but I bought paper plates…”

“It’s more convenient until we get settled properly, I guess.”

“Okay, now can we go buy some clothes? That first shop had some reaaally nice stuff!” Elena asked.

“Yes, fine.” Caroline nodded. She did need to update her wardrobe. And she wanted some new makeup…

 

~*~*~

 

Seven stores later, the girls collapsed onto the chairs at the food court, exhausted.

“So that was fun. Who else wants a salad?” Bonnie asked.

“I need sugar.” Caroline whispered.

Elena leant forward and tiredly looked her in the eye. “We agreed last week, keep the carbs to a minimum. It’s my duty as your best friend—“ Elena broke off suddenly, a girl walking past them with a milkshake catching her eye. “You know what? Let’s split a Snickers and call it a day.”

“Thank god you bought chocolate.” Caroline sighed as Elena reached into one of the gigantic shopping bags.

They split it three ways and then Elena went off with Bonnie to get their lunch— they knew each other’s orders by heart—while Caroline pulled out her phone. 

She had a text from Nora, one of her friends from college. She talked to her college friends often but they all lived in different cities now and she’d already begun to drift away from some. She realised she missed them. Bonnie and Elena and Damon had each other, but she’d spent the better part of the last few years with Hayley and Luke and Kol and Mary Louise.

That reminded her, she should check in on Tyler. He’d returned to Mystic Falls with Liv and it had been days since they’d spoken. She sent him a single ‘ _Hey’_ which was marked as delivered within moments.

She was now feeling a little wistful and low, but pushed the thoughts away when the girls returned with lunch. They set down a Caesar salad, her absolute favourite, in front of her and she suppressed a smile. They were still her best friends. Things had changed over the last four years, but that was life, and some things were still the same.

Bonnie’s phone started buzzing and a huge grin spread across her face. So that was probably Enzo then.

“Hi.” She said happily, and then looked thoughtful. “Oh, yeah okay. I’ll ask. Bye.”

She looked up at them. “So… who wants to go to that bar tonight?”

Caroline felt slightly confused. “Wait, which bar?”

Elena was suddenly extremely interested in her fork. “The one we told you about…”

Caroline glared. “Oh, the blind date one? The one you sent me to and made me wait for hours at?”

“It’s a really nice place…” Bonnie offered.

“And you met your boyfriend there so… it’s kind of romantic?”

Caroline sighed. “Yeah sure, it’s not like I have other plans.”

“At least you have a job.” Bonnie said.

“I don’t start for another week.”

“Oh yeah, I got the internship at the hospital!” Elena interjected.

Caroline looked over at her, stunned. “No way! Congratulations!”

Bonnie reached over and wrapped an arm around Elena. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

She shrugged. “Forgot to mention it. I knew I’d get it, I wasn’t that worried.”

“Okay, this calls for a celebration. We are definitely going.”

 

~*~*~

 

Caroline sat next to Stefan in silence, as Damon and Elena were laughing over who knows what in the backseat. They weren’t really talking, but Damon and Elena were too busy to notice.

It was funny how they were pretending to be dating for the benefit of their friends, but they were more at ease and natural when they were alone. That was when they talked openly and laughed and… kissed. A lot, apparently.

She groaned inwardly, trying to get the thought out of her head, and turned to Stefan.

Ugh. Why did he look hot while _driving_? Who did that?

He was concentring pretty hard and his eyebrows were a little furrowed. She resisted the urge to reach over and smooth them with her finger.

Oh wait, she could technically do that. Their friends were there, so…

Instead, she placed her hand over his on the gear and smiled reassuringly when he looked over with a surprised expression.

The look he gave her set off butterflies in her stomach, but she ignored them.

It was such a normal and insignificant thing to do but it she was hyper-aware of her hand on his and moved it away when they pulled into the parking lot.

They walked behind the others, standing close together as they entered the bar. It actually reminded her of Mystic Grill in some ways; it had little tables and pool table. They found a table and Stefan announced he was going to order some drinks and leant down to give Caroline a quick peck on the cheek. Her heart raced when he was that close again. Pathetic.

The college… quartet, now, were very excited about living together and Elena’s internship and as much as she hated acknowledging it, Caroline felt a little left out again. She didn’t blame them or anything, it just sucked.

After a minute or two of listening about Nadia’s wild shenanigans, she wandered off to find Stefan. He was standing by the bar and waiting for the drinks.

“Challenge you to a fun game of pool? You look like you could use it,” she asked.

He raised an eyebrow. “Use it?”

“I’m just saying.”

“Oh, you think I’m too serious?” he asked, looking more amused than offended. “Challenge accepted.”

They carried the others’ drinks over to them and Caroline left hers on the table. No way was she drinking anytime soon with this particular company. The last thing she needed was them getting drunk and hooking up in the washroom or something.

She noticed he didn’t have one either. “No drink?” she asked, wondering why. She’d gotten the impression that Stefan and Damon were pretty fond of bourbon.

“I volunteered to be the designated driver.”

“Oh.”

Of course that was it. He probably thought nothing of last night. A guy like him had probably had loads of drunk kisses, and well… more. She was overthinking.

 

~*~*~

 

“Hah!” Caroline exclaimed as a ball rolled into the slot.

Ten minutes in, and she was winning.

Stefan rolled his eyes but a faint smile was on his lips. “Just a fluke.”

“Oh, you wish.”

This was so much fun. It was like hanging out with her best friends, only… different, somehow. She found that didn’t want to return to the others.

“Okay, break.” She announced as her phone buzzed. It was a Snapchat from Hayley.

_‘Miss you Care!!!’,_ read a picture of her with a green face mask on.

Caroline grinned and hit reply, taking a quick picture of herself with a funny face and typing in ‘ _At a bar’_. She decided was going to call Hayley the next day and tell her about this plan.

Hayley’s reply was quick: ‘ _who’s the funny hottie in the background_?’

Caroline stared at it, confused, and then understanding dawned upon her as she turned around.

Stefan flashed her an innocent look.

She narrowed her eyes. “What did you do, make horns behind my head?”

He gasped theatrically and placed his hand on his chest. “That would be so immature. I stuck my tongue out at you.”

She giggled and rolled her eyes.

_‘My boyfriend. Sort of. Long story_ _._ _’_ She typed into a picture of the pool table.  
  
 _‘Sort of? Can I have him then?’,_ Hayley just straight-up texted her.

_‘Hands off_.’ Caroline had typed and hit send before she could give a single thought to why she’d said that so instinctively and what it meant.

_‘LOL K but I need deets ASAP_ _._ _’_

“What do you say, should we continue?” Stefan asked.

Caroline put her phone down and tied her hair back with the hair tie on her wrist. “Absolutely.” She replied, determined to win.


	12. Chapter 12

Stefan watched affectionately as Caroline did a small jig around the pool table as she exclaimed “I won, I won, told you I’d win!”

And then he wiped the smile off his face as he could practically hear Lexi’s voice in his head: _pathetic, Stefan, stop looking so whipped_.

And the Lexi in Stefan’s head was right. He still had to figure it what was real and what was part of the pretence, but he wasn’t going to go and develop a crush on her and make the whole situation awkward. The fact that he really couldn’t distinguish between what was real and what wasn’t meant his “feelings” were nothing but the after-effects of a drunk hook-up. She was adorable, as a _friend_ , he told himself.

Caroline was next to him again and looked up smiling, her hair coming undone, eyes bright, cheeks flushed and panting a little.

“Tired from your victory dance?”

“Being a winner. It’s exhausting.”

“So is being serious. I wouldn’t know, of course.”

“Oh yeah, I’m _sure_.”

“I plan to pay you back for that game, by the way.”

They stood there smiling at each other and on an impulse, Stefan reached out to tuck a lock of hair falling in her eyes behind her ear. 

Their friends were around, after all. It had nothing to do with the fact that he’d been wanting to do that for days.

Her cheeks seemed to get redder and she looked down. He stepped back quickly and was just about to open his mouth to say they should get back to the others when someone else beat him to it.

“Caroline Forbes?” came a voice from behind him.

The accent wasn’t exactly British but something about the voice was strangely familiar. Caroline froze and Stefan turned around to see a light-haired, lean man walking over to them, grinning from ear to ear.

“Klaus, hi.” Caroline mumbled.

“Hello, love. Fancy seeing you here!”

“You too…”

“I was certain the next time we would run into each other would be at the Palace of Versailles—one of my favourite locations in the world, of course—under a painting we both admired greatly and stopped to marvel at…” he trailed off with a slightly manic smile.

“France, huh? Maybe someday.” Caroline said, clearly at a loss for words.

_Who was this dude?_ Stefan realised that his name was kind of familiar.

“Splendid! How are you doing, then?”

“Good, good… graduated, got a job.” Caroline wasn’t chatty for once and it struck Stefan as surprising, and he moved slightly closer to her.

“Excellent! And who is this fellow?” he motioned to Stefan.

“Stefan Salvatore.” He held out his hand.

The man shook it, somehow looking both pleased to meet him and annoyed that he was standing protectively next to Caroline. Then his eyes widened and he clapped Stefan on the shoulder. “Young Salvatore!”

Stefan looked at Caroline, perplexed, and she shrugged with a don’t-look-at-me-man-I-don’t-know look. “Excuse me?”

“Klaus Mikaelson! Do you not remember? It was high school, I believe, when I first made your acquaintance.”

Everything came back to Stefan and he wanted the ground open up and swallow him, and Caroline didn’t look that different.

“Oh god, yeah, sophomore year, you were a senior and my-“

“Supplier of herbal sensory enhancers, yes.” Klaus cut in. “A self-made businessman at so tender an age, no wonder I control my family’s fortune.”

Caroline looked from Stefan and Klaus and then back to Stefan, dumbfounded.

“Er, you can call it that.” He said.

Her mouth fell open slightly. “Wait, herbal enhancers… were you… his _drug dealer_?”

Stefan cringed and he knew she instantly knew the answer.

“Ah, that is so base and crude a term, love. The profession is far more than that.”

“Uh… okay then.” Caroline didn’t look like she wanted to contradict him.

Stefan turned to Caroline. “After my last summer there, I lost touch with V but whenever I wanted some, Klaus sold it to me that year.”

Klaus smiled fondly at Stefan. “How shattered you must have been when I graduated. My sincerest apologies.”

“No, it was good, I got sober pretty quick after.”

Klaus nodded, looking moved. “Good for you, friend.”

And then he turned to Caroline. “You, my dear, are light. I have not forgotten that night at the fraternity house’s annual party. If you ever want something more, do come to me, for I will show you the allure of art and culture and passion and darkness and you shall be a _queen_ among women.”

Stefan felt incredibly uncomfortable listening to this and was growing increasingly more annoyed at Klaus. He was aware of the urge to punch him but instead turned to check on Caroline, who looked mortified.

He hadn’t said anything before because this guy seemed to be an ex of some kind, but her expression made him step ever closer to her. “Back off, man.” Stefan looked Klaus squarely in the eye.

She moved so close to Stefan she bumped into his side and slipped her hand into his. “Actually, Klaus, I’m with Stefan, and I told you the last time, I was drunk and mad at my ex-boyfriend and it was nothing.”

Klaus nodded gravely. “I understand. Nothing gives me greater joy than to see two dear friends deeply in love. I wish you all the joy. I have only one request, invite me to the wedding. Farewell.”

He turned around and left, leaving a stunned Stefan and Caroline in his wake.

Caroline sighed, sounding relieved, and her head slumped against his shoulder as loosened her tight grip on his hand.

“What the fuck was that?” Stefan said, astounded.

“Wedding?” Caroline spluttered.

“Paris?” Stefan added.

“I cannot believe you bought drugs from him!”

“I can’t believe you… you know, had sex with him!” He hoped his cheeks weren’t red as he remembered that _they’d_ almost had sex last night, and probably would have if no one had knocked.

“He was just this guy at the party who kept checking me out and telling me nice things and seemed like a bad boy…”

“Still, him?” Stefan was aware that on some level he was jealous but a part of him was relieved they were back to their easy banter again.

“I was new to college and mad at Tyler, okay? Might I remind you Stefan, you let _him_ sell you _drugs_.”

“I missed getting high after that summer with Vicki, okay!”

She stared at him and then they burst out laughing and couldn’t stop. They looked drunk but it was amazing how they didn’t even need alcohol to laugh hysterically.

“Oh my god, what even was that?” she gasped, visibly trying to stop laughing.

“I have no idea.”

Stefan rubbed his eyes and then led her back to the table, holding hands.

“Hey guys!” The others greeted them.

“Don’t you look chipper.” Enzo commented.

“Your phone was buzzing like crazy, Steffy.” Damon said.

Stefan grabbed it, read the email and his face split into a huge smile. “I got the job!”

Before he knew it, Caroline’s arms had flown around his neck and he was holding her, her perfume that reminded him of flowers at the estate and now her, sent a pang of longing through him. What for, he wasn’t sure.

She landed on his feet and pulled back. “Congratulations!” she said softly and then he did what he’d wanted to all night. He cupped her face and pulled her close with his other hand, and kissed her. Again. In front of the others. Again.

For show, of course.

He could hear some hooting and laughter from their friends but all he could think about was Caroline. The way her fingers snaked into his hair, the way she gently pulled him closer, her kisses that he could never get enough of.

They finally pulled away and sat down with their friends.

Stefan was kind of relieved that kiss had been a far more casual one than the previous few. He had been starting to fear he wasn’t capable of kissing her without it turning into a full-blown makeout session. 

“Uh, congratulations, Stefan.” Elena patted him awkwardly on the shoulder.

“Knew you had it in you, mate.”

“Awesome news!” said Bonnie.

“I’d hug you, but you still look dazed,” Damon smirked. “You and Blondie are interesting, to say the least.”

Stefan shot him a puzzled look, aware of Caroline’s gaze on him.

_They were supposed to be believable, not ‘interesting.’_

“What do you mean?” he asked his brother.

“Well, for starters she’s not insane like Katherine, or annoying like Valerie, or dull like Ivy, or my type like Rebekah.”

Stefan scoffed, relieved. “Wow.”

“Or mean like Lexi.” Enzo muttered.

Elena laughed. “You just think she’s mean because she rejected you that time when she dropped by to visit Damon.”

“It was unkind.”

“You were being an idiot. And everyone could tell you liked Bonnie.”

Bonnie and Enzo smiled at each other.

“She was taken then.”

“I’m taken now too. By you.”

They kissed and Damon rolled his eyes. “Never stops being weird. It’s like seeing my parents kiss. Anyway. I’m just saying. It’s different.”

“Don’t worry, you’re cute!” Elena reassured them.

Caroline smiled at Stefan and the hint of nervousness didn’t escape him. It was an odd thing for Damon to say. He moved closer to her and put his arm around her to somehow ease her.

“DAMON! BONNIE! ENZO!” Elena yelled suddenly.

They all stared at her, a little alarmed.

She looked elated, grinning at her phone. “Liam and Nadia and Kai are gonna be in town tomorrow!”

Damon looked like he was going to pass out from excitement, Bonnie was giggling with Elena, and Enzo sat back with his arms crossed, a muscle ticking in his jaw.

“You okay?” Stefan asked him.

“This Kai, he was always hitting on Bonnie. I loved the gang, but never particularly him.”

Caroline, also excluded from the excitement, leaned over. “You have nothing to worry about Enzo, take it from her best friend. She’s crazy about you. Go and enjoy, I would give anything to have my college friends in town.”

“I would give anything to have Lexi in town.” Stefan muttered.

“Not helping.” Enzo sighed and then cheered up when Damon mentioned something about Liam and the four went outside to talk to him on Damon’s phone so they could have the ‘best signal possible’.

“Who _is_ Lexi?” Caroline asked him curiously.

Stefan grinned. “She’s my best friend.”

“Enzo said she was your ex, right?”

Stefan looked at her, shocked, and then started laughing. “What?”

“Yeah, he said, “Or mean like Lexi” when Damon was listing your exes.”

Understanding dawned on Stefan. “Oh, he didn’t mean anything. He probably just said that because she’s the first girl most people associate with me, but she’s like my sister.”

Caroline nodded quietly, and sipped on her coke, looking around.

_Wait, why was she asking?_ Like, she remembered Damon and Enzo’s exact words on his ex-girlfriends. Was it interest… or maybe jealousy?  

He pushed the thought away, chalking it off to wishful thinking.

And it became even clearer it was nothing of the sort when she leaned over and softly asked him something that made him feel far more uneasy than he should have.

In fact, he shouldn’t be feeling anything, least of all uneasy or sad.

“Stefan, I was thinking, what if we meet someone we actually want to date?”

Stefan swallowed his feelings and forced himself to answer, wondering if seeing Klaus had inspired this. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just a hypothetic scenario. We should cover all our bases, right? I mean, you should see the way that girl is checking you out.” She nodded to a dark haired, leather jacket clad girl who was sitting at the bar and sipping a martini.

She looked a vaguely familiar, and he tried not to stare as he racked his brains. He realised it was because she looked like Katherine and looked away.

Caroline had been watching him and her expression was different, more vacant. She wasn’t cheery anymore.

He hated not being able to gauge what she was thinking.

“I guess we… date them in secret? Until this is over.” he said, wondering if Caroline wanted to date some guy she’s seen at her interview or maybe the building or mall or- wow, he needed to chill.

She nodded and he could feel her pulling away somehow, the dynamic between them shifting from playful to something far less intimate.

He was about to say something so things would feel normal again when someone behind him cleared their throat. He turned around and it was the girl from the bar.

“Hey.” She said confidently, looking at Stefan from behind her lashes. She was pretty, but weirdly resembled Katherine, which unnerved him a bit.

“Hi” he replied.

He found himself thinking Caroline, with her wavy hair like sunshine and bright, expressive blue eyes and easy smile, was so much more beautiful.

“I’m Rayna.” She held out her hand.

He was pretty sure he knew where this was going. “Stefan.”

“Nice to meet you. Are you free tomorrow night?” she asked.

So she was direct.

He hesitated, wondering if he wanted to go out with her. She wasn’t really his type… if he had one. His ex-girlfriends had nothing in common. She was hot, but…

He looked at Caroline without meaning to.

Caroline saw him looking at her and seemed to think hard about something for a few moments and then turned to the girl, her expression resolute. “He’d love to, he was just telling me how hot he thought you were.”

The girl smiled seductively at Stefan her smile reminded him even more of Katherine. “Great.” She said, handing him a napkin. “Here’s my number. Call me.” She said and then walked right out of the bar.

Stefan turned to Caroline. She’d really wanted him to go on that date for some reason. She obviously didn’t feel anything for him, and he owed it to himself to give it a chance. And he probably didn’t feel anything for Caroline either. If you spend that much time with someone cute and pretend to be a couple, some confusing feelings are bound to emerge. He was just going to have to get a grip until this was all over and they could go back to being just friends.

Maybe he’d like Rayna anyway. Maybe he’d like her _because_ she reminded him of Katherine. It had been years anyway. Who knew?

“I’ll totally help you sneak around,” Caroline said, her expression still serious.

_He was supposed to be the serious one._

“Okay, thanks.” 

“Pinky promise.” She added and held out her little finger.

He gazed at her. 

Who was this adorable? 

His last pinky promise had probably been when he was three, with Damon over not confessing to spilling kool-aid on the sofa.

He held out his pinky too. “Same. If you want to date Klaus, my help is at your disposal.” He said dutifully, trying to make her smile.

She looked at him incredulously and then laughed. “What? No! Have you seen him, Stefan, or _heard_ him? Honestly, my taste is way better, give me some credit.”

He’d succeeded in making her smile and in making things normal again, but that’s not why his mood shot up.


	13. Chapter 13

Caroline sat silently next to Stefan as he drove,  _again_. It felt like deja vu, to be honest.

She hated the old insecurity that had flared up in her because of Rayna. It was so childish and dumb.

How on earth was she jealous over a fake boyfriend?

God, he’d  _looked over_ at her when Rayna had asked him out, as if checking to make sure it was okay or just out of politeness or… who even knew? Why did he have to be so honourable all the time?

Then she’d basically said yes to the date  _for him_  and promised to help him sneak around… what was she thinking?

 _Enough_. She was just going to have to get over it.

She turned back to Damon and Elena. “It’s so great that your friends are in town”

Damon grinned. “Missed those little assholes.”

“We’ll be with them the whole day! Oh, do you two want to come and meet them? They’re great, I promise. Kai is crazy and Liam is hilarious and Nadia is so cool.”

Caroline didn’t really want to. “Uh, maybe next time.”

“Same.” Stefan said.

“Heh, you two will have the entire place to yourselves then,” Elena said.

“Please don’t do anything we would,” Damon added.

Caroline rolled her eyes.

“Actually, I was thinking we could have a date.” Stefan said easily.

She looked at him, surprised.

“How do you feel about a Harry Potter marathon?” He asked.

“Pass. Seen it a billion times.”

“Hm. I couldn’t find my Star Wars box set…”

“Blondie, run for cover, I am warning you.” Damon said.

Stefan gasped. “I meant to check out this other sci-fi series I found at the DVD store. Ever heard of Battlestar Galactica?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Sounds dumb.”

“No, these stories are awesome, trust me. We’re dating now, we should support each other’s interests. I’m ready to go shopping with you if you want.” He said bravely.

Damn it, he pulled the dating card. Now Elena was saying “Awww” and Damon was muttering about ‘space and chill’.

She gave Stefan a forced smile. “Sure, babe.”

He leaned over and whispered, “Told you I’d get you back for the game.” His breath was hot and sent chills down her spine, and she felt the urge to kiss him again.

Instead, she muttered “You suck” quietly, so only he would hear. He shook with a silent laugh and went back to concentrating on the road, pulling her hand into his on the gear again.

They were very convincing.

 

 

~*~*~

 

 

Caroline woke up in her new room and smiled. 

It was her first day in her new apartment.

She got out of bed, humming, pulled on a robe, and went looking for Bonnie and Elena. Neither of them liked waking up early, and it was only 8:30 on a day without school, college or work.

The loft was empty. Like, not just bare because it had just been moved into, but devoid of her roommates too.

Maybe they were with Damon. She poured some coffee that was in the pot and made her way to the Salvatore loft. She knocked on the door and Stefan opened it, wearing a shirt this time. She wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or relieved.

“Morning, Caroline.” He said.

“Hey, seen the girls?”

“They left with Damon an hour ago.”

Caroline nearly dropped her mug. “Bonnie and Elena… were ready to leave by  _seven thirty_?”

She had always been the early riser and morning person. Since when were  _they_?

“I know, it’s like a whole new Damon. They were so excited. I don’t even want to know what these people did in college.”

She nodded. “No kidding.”

“So, you hungry?” he asked.

“Uh… yeah. I’m not sure if Elena bought anything that’s breakfast material.”

“I made pancakes and have some batter left.”

Caroline nodded and followed him into the kitchen. “Thank you.”

“It’s no trouble.”

She sat on the counter, legs dangling as she watched him cook. She really needed to stop checking him out but every time his shoulders moved under his shirt she wanted to touch them. Preferably with him standing before the counter she was sitting on so she could…Wow, she needed to shut off her brain.

“Okay, here you go.” He handed her a plate of pancakes that smelled delicious. “Whipped cream or maple syrup?”

“Honey.” 

He turned. “Honey?”

“Yeah, pancakes are incomplete without it.”

“I don’t think we have any,” he said, rummaging around some shelves.

“I think Elena bought some yesterday” she said, getting up. He followed her to her apartment and looked around in awe.

“Woah. Your apartment looks great.”

She smiled at him. “Thanks. I did a bit of decorating.”

“A bit? Damon and I moved in a week before you and no way is ours even half as unpacked as yours.” He said, plopping down on the sofa as she went through the cabinets.

She turned around when she heard a laugh and Stefan say, “Um, Caroline?” He held up a tattered teddy bear.

She felt her cheeks grow slightly warm. “Stefan, meet Ms Cuddles.”

“Ms Cuddles” he repeated, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

“Pipe down, Spock. She belongs to all three of us and has been a huge part of our childhood so be nice.” 

He patted the teddy bear on its head and put it back down on the sofa. “So you  _have_  seen Star Trek.”

“Okay, let’s go.” She said, rolling her eyes in mock irritation.

Back in his loft, they sat on the table together and chatted as he ate.

“Mmm, this is really good. If you hadn’t gotten a job, I’d suggest becoming a chef.”

He seemed to blush a little. “Glad you like it.”

 _I like you_ , her brain randomly thought.

**What the fuck.**

“So when is your date?” she asked, scrambling to think about something else.

“Um,  _today_. Come over whenever, the sci-fi space saga awaits.”

Caroline’s chest hurt a bit. “No, I meant with Rayna.”

“Oh. I texted her and she said tonight.”

“Cool. They should still be out then.”

“Yeah, the plan is still on though, right? It would be such a waste to throw away all this hard work and time. Another reason I suggested it was because we need to be as convincing as a couple as possible., so we should spend more time together. Like, Damon called us  _interesting_.”

She nodded. “What did he even mean?”

Stefan shrugged. “Who knows?”

”So, I’ll shower, arrange the loft for a bit, and then come over in an hour or so?”

He smiled.And his smile might have made her go weak at the knees, but she firmly ignored it.

 

 

~*~*~

 

 

Caroline put absolutely no extra effort into her appearance. She just wore her best dress that fit her perfectly and always got her free drinks, washed and blow dried her hair until it was soft and silky and not a bird’s nest, and put on her favourite lipstick.

Everyday stuff, really.

She reminded herself that he was going to be going on an actual date with someone who could become his actual girlfriend, and then sighed and wiped the lipstick off.

It was too red, anyway. Elena’s pinker one looked more natural.

She set up the loft a bit, arranging all the décor they’d bought the day before until it looked pretty and like a home and she was satisfied. Then she walked over and into the loft next door without knocking.

Stefan was nowhere to be seen, but a laptop lay on the table with a bored-looking blonde girl on the screen.

She looked surprised on seeing Caroline enter and the feeling was pretty much mutual.

“Uh… hi?” Caroline said.

“Are you an intruder? Because I will call the owners up right now.” The girl said.

Caroline shook her head quickly. “No, I know them. Stefan!” she called out.

“He’s inside.” The girl said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Phew, glad you’re not some thief. I’m Lexi.” she flashed her a friendly smile.

“Caroline. Oh, so you’re Lexi. Nice to finally meet you.”

“You too.” She smirked. “You are certainly his type, for sure.”

Caroline bit her lip, wondering what that meant.

“Oh, nice dress,” Lexi said.

“Nice jacket,” Caroline replied. The girl had this punk rock kind of look and it really suited her.

“Hey Lex, I think you’ll like this one.” Stefan’s voice came from his room. He came out wearing a plaid shirt and jeans, looking hot as always, and stopped in his tracks when he saw Caroline.

“Hi. Wow. You look pretty.” He said.

Caroline blushed. “You too.”

His eyebrows furrowed.

“Handsome, I mean. Not pretty. Though, guys can be pretty too-“

“Wow!” Lexi cut in. “You two are hilarious. Stefan, that’s no different from literally everything you own and you can wear any to the date-“

“Date with Rayna.” He told Caroline quickly. “She was giving me what she calls much-needed advice.”

“Yeah sure, you can wear anything you have and it won’t make a difference because she probably likes you for your personality or looks and not clothes. Nice to meet your Caroline, see you later Stef. Have fun on both your dates.”

The screen went black.

“She’s nice.”

“She’s usually way nicer. She was just in a bad mood today.”

“Does she live here?”

“No, but she said she’ll come visit soon.” He said happily.

Caroline nodded. One thing was for sure, they definitely weren’t anything more than best friends.

Why did that make her happy?

“So, let’s do this.” She said, dramatically taking in a deep breath.

“Bonnie told me to make sure I have some of this stuff,” he gestured to the junk food lying on the table. “Apparently movie night, or day-“

“Equals chocolate and chips and ice cream.” Caroline finished. “Yep.”

Stefan drew the curtains and she got the blankets. It felt so natural, like they had known each other forever, like this closeness had always been there.

 _But it’ll be over soon_ , Caroline reminded herself as Stefan hit play and the dark room lit up with the glow of the TV.

 

 

~*~*~

 

 

A few hours and a season and a half later, Stefan’s phone rang.

“Hey Damon.” He answered. “How’s the reunion?”

Caroline could hear faint buzzing from his side and from Stefan’s amused expression it seemed Damon was filling him in on a lot.

She picked up the DVD for the next season and was halfway through the summary when Stefan snatched it from her and mouthed “ _Spoilers_ ”.

She rolled her eyes and mouthed “ _Nerd_ ”. She wasn’t about to admit it to Stefan, but it was quite interesting. Sitcoms were more her speed, but she liked the concept.

Stefan put the phone down and turned to her. “How cool is this?” he grinned. She couldn’t help but smile seeing his face.

“It’s okay.”

“ _Okay_? Our human-alien ancestors travelling the cosmos to find the mythical Earth is  _okay_?”

“Did it have to have robots? Like seriously, it’s creepy.”

“First of all, they are called Cylons and second of all, they are awesome.”

“Awesomely creepy”

He looked offended. “I can’t even look at you right now.”

She laughed and pressed play, only for both their phones to be buzz a few minutes later.

Tyler had replied. She read it, pleasantly surprised. Apparently they were coming to town in a few days. She wasn’t sure who “they” were but it obviously included Liv and Jeremy. She quickly asked him for details and then put her phone down and turned to Stefan.

“All okay?”

His eyebrows were furrowed. “Damon said he’s on his way back. With everyone.”

“Oh.” So she was finally going to meet her best friends’ college friends.

“Yep.”

“ _Oh no_.” she suddenly realised.

“What?” he asked, his forehead creasing.

“Isn’t your date tonight?”

“Uh, yeah, shit.”

She smiled resolutely at him, determined not to let any feelings get in the way this time. She was going to get completely back on track with the plan. One hundred percent.

“Not to worry, I’ll help you sneak about.”


	14. Chapter 14

Stefan and Caroline had just finished the season they were on when the college gang walked in. They quickly got up from the couch, the blanket falling to the ground.

Trailing behind Bonnie, Enzo, Elena, and Damon were a dark haired woman, a tall guy with spiky hair, and a brown haired guy. They were all smiling and laughing and came to a halt on seeing Stefan and Caroline.

“Hey guys. Kai, Liam.” Stefan said with a nod. He’d met them when he’d gone to visit Damon, but only briefly.

“Little Salvatore!” Kai exclaimed.

Stefan rolled his eyes. “I really wish you and Damon would stop with that, it’s only by a few hours.”

“Still counts,  _little_ _bro_.” Damon said with a grin.

“This is Nadia.” Elena introduced her to Stefan. “Guys, meet Caroline, my best friend.”

Nadia opened her mouth to say hi to them but Liam stepped past her and held his hand out to Caroline. “ _So nice_  to meet you” he said as she shook it. Stefan didn’t like the way he was checking her out. Why were random guys hitting on her everyday? Well, it wasn’t exactly a mystery given how beautiful she was, but it didn’t mean he had to like it.

Wow, he was really getting into his role as her boyfriend.

“Hi!” Caroline said to Liam in her usual friendly manner.

“Easy, Liam, she has a boyfriend.” Damon warned him.

Liam looked unperturbed. “Oh really, who?”

“Stefan here.” Damon told him.

Liam stepped back quickly and Stefan cleared his throat. “So, you guys have fun?”

“Of course. I missed Bonnie so much.” Kai said with a flirtatious smile.

Enzo crossed his arms again. “We missed you too mate.”

Then Nadia started telling Stefan and Bonnie about her friends with benefits thing with Liam, while Kai accidentally called Caroline “Clarice.”

Caroline shot Stefan a look that clearly read  _let’s leave them to it and run_.

He agreed wholeheartedly. Plus, he had his date with Rayna soon. An excuse quickly formed in his head as he grabbed the car keys.

“So,” he said, loudly enough to shut all the conversations up. “Sorry to leave, but Caroline and I are getting late for our date.”

“Didn’t you guys just have the… sci-fi marathon date?” Enzo asked.

“Well, yeah, and it was so bad that Stefan feels he needs to make up for it by taking me to dinner.” Caroline said.

Stefan narrowed his eyes at her. “Wasn’t that bad.” he muttered. She was  _totally_  lying about not liking it.

“Yeah,  _you’d_  say that. You should have seen him. Broody Stefan was gone, replaced by geeky Stefan. It was disorienting.”

“Yeah, so, catch you guys later,” Stefan said, walking out with Caroline, placing his hand on the small of her back.

“Well, well, have fun.” Kai said from behind them.

He pulled the door shut behind them and they leaned against it.

“Wow. That was…”

“Interesting.” Stefan finished her sentence.

She laughed and pushed at his chest. “You sound like Damon.”

He shook his head, grinning. “At least they seem to be having fun.”

“So, ready for your date? Sure you’re dressed properly? I know how important that is to you.”

Stefan groaned. He couldn’t believe Caroline had walked in when Lexi was giving him fashion advice. He’d been unpacking some clothes and Skyping with Lexi in his room when she had commented that everything he owned was “dull as dishwater” and it was tragic how he didn’t own anything with the slightest pop of colour even after four years of college.

Stefan had grown a bit worried at that since Caroline was… colourful, and asked Lexi what he should wear on their date, and before he knew it he was modeling his only clothes that didn’t fall into the black of gray category in front of Lexi. And then Caroline had walked in and he’d quickly covered, saying it was for the date with Rayna.

Now she probably thought he was really interested in Rayna. Great.

“Where should I drop you?” he asked.

“Well I can’t be in my apartment because they’ll find me and wonder why I’m not on my date with you, so I’ll just be in the mall until you’re done.”

“Good plan.”

 

 

~*~*~

 

 

’ _Hey where are u_?’ Stefan texted Rayna, leaning against the wall outside the Italian restaurant.

’ _5 mins_ ’ came the reply.

“You don’t have to wait with me.” he said to Caroline, feeling guilty.

“No, I’m fine keeping you company.”

“Are you sure I can’t give you cab fare or something so you can be where you want to?”

“It’s fine, Stefan, I’m happy to shop.” She smiled at him. “If this situation arises during some other date, I can just get some work done at the library if my job’s started.”

He nodded. “It’ll be over soon, all the pretending. And so worth it.”

“So, this place, huh?” she said appraisingly. “Perfect for a first date; not too casual, not too formal. Well done.”

He found himself wishing she was on the date with him instead. The idea of spending time with her somehow immediately lifted his spirits, which sank again when he realised what what he’d just said meant. Soon they’d stop pretending to date and start pretending to fight. No more hanging out.

“Oh, there she is.” Caroline said, her tone suddenly less warm.

Rayna walked in, wearing a tight black dress that he was pretty sure Katherine owned too. He couldn’t help it; everything about her made his mind immediately jump to his manipulative ex.

“Hey, sorry I’m late. Traffic.” She said. “Oh hi, you again.” she turned to Caroline.

“Uh, Rayna, meet Caroline.”

Caroline smiled at her, but it didn’t reach her eyes. He stared at her despite himself as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Hi. Don’t worry, I was just leaving.”

“So, are you two besties or something?” Rayna asked.

Caroline turned to Stefan, obviously leaving the answer up to him. He decided on the truth.

“Not exactly. This is gonna sound super strange but we’re pretending to date to get back at our friends for a prank.”

Rayna raised her eyebrows. “Oh. I was wondering why you seemed so weirdly close.”

“Yeah, it’s nothing more. We just met like a week back.” Caroline added, obviously trying to make things easier for him.

He watched as she talked to Rayna. She clearly wanted it to work out, she’d said yes to the date for him for god’s sake. And she’d asked what they’d do if they met someone who they wanted to date for real. It could not be any more apparent: she liked him only as a friend. She had zero interest in him, like it was supposed to be. He really had to get a grip on himself, like Lexi had said.

“We’re going to break up soon.” he added.

“Well, I don’t mind then. You ready?” she asked Stefan.

“Bye,” Caroline said with a wave as they walked away in opposite directions.

 

 

~*~*~

 

 

Stefan paid the bill as Rayna excused herself to go to the bathroom.

The date had been fine. The food was nice, they got along well and had found things to talk about, and Rayna, though similar to Katherine in looks and mannerisms, was straight-forward and blunt when one actually spoke to her.

But still, he didn’t really feel anything for her.

He knew it wasn’t fair to her to pursue this as they walked out to the elevator, and wondered how he was going to say it. The musty parking lot was lit by orange lights, and after a minute of walking, they came to a stop.

“This is me.” she motioned to her car.

He smiled. “I had a good time.”

“Me too.”

“So–” he started, unsure of what to say next.

“Stefan, I’m just going to say it. You’re a great guy, and very hot, but I don’t think we should go out again.”

He was taken aback and waited for her to elaborate. Her next words made his jaw drop.

“You’re obviously in love with Caroline over there and I wish you luck, but I can’t do this. No hard feelings.”

His thoughts flew by at a thousand miles per hour. Rayna, the only person who knew the truth and had seen them together, was telling him that he was  _in love_  with Caroline?

“Uh, what, no.” he managed.

“I thought maybe the way you guys acted at the bar was because your friends were around, but tonight confirmed it.”

“It’s just an act…” he said.

“Doesn’t look like you two got that memo. Bye Stefan.” she said, reached up and kissed his cheek, got in her car and drove away, leaving Stefan stunned.

 

 

~*~*~

 

 

“Hey there” Caroline smiled as Stefan sat down on the chair across from her at the food court. Her smile made his heart skip a beat, and he found himself smiling back.

“Hi.”

“How was the date?”

“Good.”

She nodded and stared at her pasta. “When’s the next one?”

He wanted so badly for her to look up at him.

“There isn’t one.”

Her head snapped up, her eyes searching his. “What happened?”

“I don’t know, she said she couldn’t do this. Weird.”

No way was he telling her the truth.

“Oh no, I’m sorry.” She placed her hand on his and pushed her plate towards him. “Want some? It’s good.”

He shook his head, smiling. “I ate that too. And I’m fine, I didn’t really like her.”

“Oh.”

“And once my job starts I’ll probably be too busy at first to be in a relationship.”

She nodded. “Good thinking.”

They sat in silence for a bit before he broke it, looking at the bags next to her. “Whatcha buy?

“Oh you know, the usual. Pens, notebooks, stationary. And a dress. Listen, I was thinking, since we all literally live together, they must be wondering why we haven’t slept together, right?”

His heart beat faster. “Oh yeah. Maybe they think we’re taking it slow.”

“You can only take it slow for so long, and we have to convince them we’re a really serious couple.”

“You’re right. So… you sleep over in my room?”

“Yep, we just need to make them  _think_  we’re having sex.”

And all he could think about on the way back was that night they’d hooked up, and how his feelings for her had been a million times more than his feelings for Rayna.

 

 

~*~*~

 

 

“Hey little brother” Damon greeted him as he walked into the loft.

“Hi Damon.”

“Where’s Care?” Elena asked.

“Uh, she’ll be over in a bit.”

Damon raised his eyebrows. “You finally decided to stop taking it slow?”

Stefan chucked a cushion at him. “Shut up.”

Soon enough, Caroline walked in carrying a bag. She walked over to the couch, leaned down and pressed her lips to Stefan’s, gripping the back of his neck.

“Hey” she whispered, pulling away a little.

He cupped her cheek in response, pulling her closer and resuming the kiss. He heard the bag hit the floor as she moaned so softly it was barely audible. Instinctively, his hands went to her torso and he pulled her down onto his lap. Her arms snaked around his neck as the kiss deepened, his hands slowly running up her thigh, making her shiver slightly.

Okay, he had to stop.

“ _Please_  get a room.” he heard Elena say.

“Will do.” He said, as Caroline got up and grabbed her bag. He followed her to his room.

“I’ll just change into my jammies, be right back” Caroline muttered as she practically rushed into the bathroom.

He sank onto the bed. Why was it so hard to stop kissing her?

Caroline walked out, wearing pajamas and a tank top that made it really hard for him to tear his eyes away from her.

“So I’ll take the floor–” he started.

“Not again, Stefan, this is your house for god’s sake. Are you just gonna sleep on the floor for the next few weeks? We both sleep on the bed.” she cut in, getting into her side of the bed and pulling the covers over her. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight” he echoed, turning the lights off and getting in beside her.


	15. Chapter 15

Caroline stirred awake under the covers when the quiet alarm on her phone went off. She felt Stefan’s arm around her waist–  _really, again_? She propped herself up on her elbows, reaching over as carefully as she could to sleepily turn it off so she didn’t wake him.

When she turned back, her eyes widened she saw him stirring awake.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion when he realised he was spooning her and he quickly pulled his arm back.

“Morning” she mumbled.

“Morning” his voice was husky with sleep and made her heart skip a beat.

They lay in silence for a few seconds, on their sides, their faces close together on their pillows.

“Sorry I woke you.” she added.

He glanced sleepily at the clock. “It’s six in the morning.”

“I like to get up early.”

He seemed to smile a little. “You know sleep is good for you, right? Some even call it beauty sleep.”

“Shut up” she said laughing.

“You know, I was getting some really good sleep before your chirpy alarm went off” he teased.

“Yeah well, that’s what happens with you cuddle with me.” 

The words were out of her mouth before she realised what she was saying. She felt herself going red and inwardly cursed herself. She would  _never_  have said that if her mind wasn’t so foggy with sleep.

“Friends cuddle, right?” he asked, looking at her with an expression she couldn’t decipher.

“Sure. Cuddling is good for sleep.” she muttered.

He didn’t seem to find the situation that awkward. “No one should have to wake up at this ungodly hour if they don’t have school or work,” he said dramatically. 

The prospect of extra sleep in Stefan’s warm bed wasn’t that bad. “An hour more won’t hurt anymore” she agreed.

And then they were just lying there, gazing into each other’s eyes and smiling.

She sighed. “It’s gonna be hard to fall back asleep.”

He nodded like he had just decided something with a mischievous look in his eyes. “No it won’t,” he said and suddenly wrapped his arm around her waist again.

She giggled, ignoring the swoop of her stomach. “What are you doing?”

“Cuddling again. It promotes good sleep, right? And for now, we go to sleep.” he said matter-of-factly.

“Gee, thanks” she grinned and turned over so he could put his arm around her properly.

“Goodnight– or early morning.”

She rolled her eyes, hoping she wasn’t blushing at the contact as he seemed to pull her closer slightly. “Go to sleep, Stefan.”

“You too, Caroline”

She found herself smiling again at his dumb banter and felt her eyelids drooping.  _Yep, this was good,_ she thought. Then she snuggled back into his chest and fell asleep.

 

 

~*~

 

 

When Caroline woke up again, the bed was empty. Her hand lingered on Stefan’s side for a moment before she snapped out of it and got up.

She took her bag into the bathroom, brushed her teeth, ran her fingers through her hair and made her way out to the living room.

“Hey” Stefan greeted her, eating cereal.

“Hey”

“So what’s your plan for today?”

“No clue. Chill in my new apartment I guess. You?”

“Yeah, same. Breakfast?”

She smiled. “I’ll eat it later at my place. Bye, boyfriend.”

He smiled back. “Bye, girlfriend.”

 

 

~*~

 

 

“There she is!” Bonnie exclaimed as Caroline entered. She was sitting on the couch, forehead creased, three notebooks lying in front of her.

“What’s up Bonnie?”

“Ugh, teacher stuff. I need to figure out a system to organize this stuff. Teaching first graders is hard work.”

“ _Hello_ , you’re talking to Caroline Forbes. What do you need help with?”

Bonnie had just explained her problem to Caroline and set her thinking when Elena stumbled into the living room, dragged herself to the coffee, and sank onto a chair.

“Morning.” she croaked.

Caroline laughed. “I almost forgot what a zombie you are in the morning.”

Elena looked up quickly. “Care! Oh my god, how was it? Tell us everything!”

Caroline realised she was talking about sex. Which she was supposed to have had last night. With her supposed boyfriend. “It was awesome.”

“So we’re talking better than Tyler? Ooh, or better than Jesse?” Bonnie asked.

“Uh, yeah, totally.” she tried not to blush.

Elena looked at her kind of suspiciously. “Okay then.”

Caroline changed the topic. “I’m just going to be here in my new room today.”

“I’m going to Enzo’s,” Bonnie said.

“My internship at the hospital starts toda,” Elena informed them.

Caroline looked at the clock. “Uh, Elena, it’s 9…”

“Fuck!” Elena slammed her mug onto the table and dashed into her room. She stuck her head out a few seconds later. “Call Damon now!!”

“Heathen.” Caroline muttered as she grabbed a napkin to wipe the coffee splatter off of the table.

A few minutes later, Elena rushed out fully dressed. “I’ll be okay, right? It’s just orientation day, right? Okay, see you!”

“You’ll be great.” Bonnie and Caroline gave her a quick hug.

 

 

~*~

 

 

After she had showered, Caroline sat on her bed, scrolling through Instagram.

There was a knock on her door and Bonnie plopped down next to her. 

“Hey, Bonnie.”

“Hi. Ugh, I feel like we have less time to talk lately.”

Caroline sighed. “I know, but we’re roommates now, so that should change.”

Bonnie nodded. How are things with Stefan?” she asked.

Caroline smiled at her. “They’re amazing. He’s perfect.”

“Is it serious?”

“Yeah, I haven’t felt this way about anyone in ages. It’s totally different from all my previous relationships. I think… I think I could maybe love him.“

Bonnie’s smile morphed into a look of confusion. “Really? Does he know? When did this happen, you guys just met!”

Caroline laughed. “I don’t know if he knows. Or feels the same way. We just click. It’s easy to talk to him, like the hours just sort of fly by. He’s kind and funny. Even his brooding and nerdiness are cute. He’s so hot and such a good kisser and such a good cook–” she trailed off when she saw Bonnie smiling radiantly at her.

“I’m so happy you have that, Caroline. You deserve it.” she leaned over and hugged her, and pulled away when there was a knock on the doorway. They turned to find Enzo standing there.

“Ready to go, love?”

“Yep. See you later!” Bonnie grinned as she walked out.

Caroline got up and started pacing the loft as the dread settled in. 

She’d meant every single word. There was no more denying it.  **She liked Stefan**. She really had feelings for him. She’d meant every word she’d told Bonnie. It had taken saying it out loud for her to finally face it.

She’d ruined their plan. It was pathetic. He obviously didn’t reciprocate. She wasn’t in control of her feelings anymore and it sucked.

Feeling both anxious and horrible, she moved to sit cross-legged on the bed and pulled out her phone. She checked her emails, her texts, social media, and was just about to pick up her book when she got a call from her mom.

“Mom, hi! It’s been days, I’m so sorry I haven’t called. Oh, I miss you!” she excitedly.

“Caroline, baby, there’s something I need to talk to you about.” Liz Forbes’s voice was serious and subdued. 

Caroline’s heart sank.


	16. Chapter 16

Stefan slammed the door of the loft shut, and sat down in the hallway with his book. Damon was being impossible, blasting music so loud he could hear it no matter where he went. And since when did his brother care if he couldn’t concentrate on what he was doing?

It wasn’t even good music, it was some fucking boyband from Elena’s iPod.

Damon knew ‘ _The Vamps’–_ or rather, all music of that genre–annoyed Stefan, but he was trying to punish Stefan for offering Damon some extra cheesy lasagne,  _which Damon ate_ , and then got mad at Stefan for making him eat something loaded with calories.

Damon might be older by a few hours, but he acted like a child sometimes. 

Stefan didn’t actually mind when Damon called him ‘little brother’, since it was both Damon’s term of endearment for him and clearly ironic to everyone around, but  _this_  was too much.

Suddenly, the door across his opened and Caroline stumbled out. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she was clutching her phone so tight Stefan could see her palms go white. Her breathing was uneven as she looked around without seeming to register anything.

He got up at once, concerned. “Caroline? Are you okay?”

Her eyes landed on him and she wiped her wet cheeks. “You need to tell Bonnie and Elena I’m going back to Mystic Falls because they’re not picking up. I don’t know when I’ll be back. Actually, just– just tell them to call me. My flight’s in two hours so–”

Stefan stepped closer to her and tentatively placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Caroline, just breathe. What happened?”

Her eyes finally met his and the pain in them sent daggers flying into his heart. “My mom called. The doctors found something. They think it might be cancer…” she burst into tears, unable to continue.

Stefan watched helplessly for a moment before wrapping his arms around her. She was shaking. He pulled her even in even closer until the was breathing more normally again.

“I’m so sorry.” he whispered.

“I need to pack.” she said in a flat voice.

“I’ll help. And drop you at the airport.”

“Okay.” she said, and turned around and walked into her apartment. Somehow, just from her walk, she looked defeated.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Stefan sat around the table with the girls, all of them going out of their minds with worry.

“She’s not picking up. Her flight should have landed.” Bonnie said, slamming her phone down in frustration.

“I called my mom and she called her stepdad who said that Bill picked her up and they’re going to the hospital,” Elena said.

“So her phone’s off then” He didn’t know what else to say, and listened to her best friends in silence.

“I just hope it’ll all be okay. I mean, Sheriff watched us grow up, she’s practically family. And what this must be doing to Caroline–”

“That’s it. I’m going home. I can’t ask anyone, not Tyler, not Matt, not Jeremy, no one because we can’t just announce it to the whole town, and Caroline needs us.”

“Bonnie you can’t, you just got the job. We have to wait to find out what it is at least.”

“But Caroline’s all alone!”

“She’s not, she has her dads and her childhood friends if she needs them. She just… she just doesn’t have us.” Elena sighed and put her head down on the table in defeat as Damon rubbed her shoulders from behind her.

Enzo walked in with three boxes of pizza and set them down on the table. “Eat. Her friends starving themselves won’t help Caroline.”

“Not hungry.” Bonnie said, getting up to leave, but Enzo stopped her and hugged her tight.

“You have to eat something,” he said, grabbing a box and then following her into her room.

Damon took her seat and looked around at Caroline’s best friend and ‘boyfriend’. “I’m so sorry you guys. This is horrible.”

“There’s nothing we can do to help her.” Stefan said sadly.

“We can only wait.” Elena sounded miserable.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Stefan was playing a video game with Damon when Bonnie and Elena burst in.

“Caroline finally called!” Elena exclaimed.

“The result will be out in two days, so they’re hoping for the best.”

“She sounded way better.”

Stefan felt a little relieved.

“Have you spoken to her?” Elena asked.

“No, I, uh, didn’t want to intrude. I’ll call her tonight,” he said.

Right, he remembered. They expected them to call her because he was her boyfriend.

 

 

~*~

 

 

One ring.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

“Hey,” Caroline finally picked up.

“Caroline, hi. I hope I’m not interrupting or anything.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“How are you doing?” he asked, not wanting to overwhelm her.

“I’m okay.” she muttered. “Better, I guess. It might not be bad, but still. Hard not to worry anyway.”

She was okay, he realised. Relief flooded him. “We were really worried when you didn’t pick up”

“I just… didn’t feel like talking.”

“Of course. Do you need anything? Is there anything I can do?”

“No, but thanks.” she sighed. He heard some talking in the background.

“Ugh.” came her voice again. “My dads are forcing me to go eat dinner. Talk to you later.”

“Bye.” he said, but into a static void. She was gone.


	17. Chapter 17

“I hate seeing you so worried, sweetie.”

Caroline looked up at her mom from the couch she was curled up on, her laptop balanced precariously on her lap next to a bowl of fruit.

“I am  _hoping for the best.”_ She said pointedly.

"Are you researching cancer again?”

She bit her lip and sighed, knowing her mom would understand without words being necessary.

“It could still be nothing.” Liz tried to comfort her daughter.

Caroline nodded. “And there are still options. We are going to fix this.”

Her mom smiled and went into the kitchen when she got a call, leaving Caroline alone in the room. She felt better now that she’d eaten, cried as much as she could, and slept. 

She had spoken to the doctors. There was a certain comfort that came with  being in her hometown and sleeping in her old room and eating at the Grill, and she was grateful for that. She knew she could pick up the phone and call Elena or Bonnie back in the city, or any of her college friends, or ask one of her childhood friends to come over, but she didn’t feel like it. Hell, she could even call Stefan if she wanted. But for once she didn’t feel like talking to anyone.

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang and her dads walked in with takeout from their favourite Chinese restaurant.

“Oh, yum!” Liz exclaimed.

Caroline was okay with the forced cheer. Her parents were trying to pretend like it was all going to be okay for her sake, and she actually believed that, so she was fine going along with it. They’d finally gotten their act together a couple of years ago and become a perfectly functional family, so she wasn’t about to start complaining.

Her parents started talking in hushed voices and Caroline didn’t even bother trying to listen in and went back to reading.

“Don’t overwhelm yourself with all the information out there,” Steven suggested.

She pursed her lips. “I know Elena’s parents told me everything I wanted to know but we need to be prepared.”

“And we are. We’ll know tomorrow.”

“It’s late. We should all get some rest.” Bill announced.

Caroline sighed and dragged herself to her room and collapsed on her bed. It’s not like there was anything else she could do, anyway.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Caroline was up at the crack of dawn, cleaning the house to get her mind off the anxiety.

She made breakfast for her mom and carried it to her room on a tray. “Good morning! I made you your favourite” she announced.

Liz sat up sleepily and smiled. “Smells great, honey. But you don’t have to do this. I know how worried you are, I wish you’d just talk to me.”

Caroline sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, struggling with the words. She wanted to be strong for her mother, not burden an already sick Liz with her own fears. Of course she was thinking the same thing Caroline was, she was the one who it was  _happening_  to.

“I need to believe it’ll be okay. And I’m trying not to think about it so I feel less scared.”

Liz nodded and squeezed her hand. “I appreciate you being brave for me, Caroline. You’re the best daughter anyone could ask for. We’ll know in a few hours. Until then why don’t you call one of your school friends and spend some time with them?”

Caroline shook her head. “Not in the mood.”

“Do they even know you’re in town?”

“Nope. I only go to the Grill when I know Jeremy isn’t working and the others won’t be there.”

“Well then, tell me about the city! How are the girls, are you excited about your job, have you met any cute boys?” Her mom wiggled her eyebrows.

Caroline laughed. “They’re good. Living together is so much fun, I can’t believe I got my dream job, and there is this guy actually.” she said in quick succession.

“Go on…” Her mom scooted over to make room for her.

Caroline pulled the blanket over herself and stared at the tray. She’d only briefly told Hayley about it, and that time she’d only mentioned the plan and not the feelings she’d been so in denial of. She took a deep breath and began.

“His name is Stefan Salvatore. He’s Elena’s boyfriend’s brother. We’re sort of a fake couple to get back at the others but it hit me recently that I’ve actually started liking him and–” she trailed off seeing the confused look on her mom’s face.

Liz put the glass of juice down as she looked at her daughter with an amused expression.

“Okay mom, I  _know_  this sounds weird!” Caroline laughed.

“It doesn’t… fall in the realm of normal for sure”

“So do you wanna know more or not?”

“Please continue, I was going to watch some dramatic show to get my mind off today but this is even better”

“It all started my first week in town, we were supposed to meet at some bar but they all ditched us in a pathetic attempt to trick us into going on a blind date….”

 

 

~*~

 

 

It was noon. The house was spotless, Liz had showered and eaten, Caroline had finished telling her the entire story, and her dads were on their way.

They sat at the table, phones lying in front of them, waiting for the call from the hospital. Caroline was trying her hardest not to let her mind go to dark places, so she switched to thinking about what she’d told her mom that morning.

Recounting everything out loud– well, a more PG-13 version of it– made Caroline see how insane it all was. The plan as well as her feelings. She’d gone and ruined her friendship with Stefan, as well as any hope for being regular friends in the future. And she’d ruined the plan. Great going, Caroline.

The door opened and Bill and Steven walked in.

“No call yet?”

“Nope”

They sat down next to them.

“Ugh, what the hell. It’s five minutes past twelve, Elena’s mom  _said_  we she’ll let us know at once so we don’t have to go make the trip to the hospital, so why–”

Caroline’s nervous rant was interrupted by the buzzing of her mom’s phone.

“Miranda, hi,” Liz breathed.

Caroline watched her mom’s face intently, trying to figure out what the news was, feeling like maybe her heart may burst out of her chest.

Liz nodded as she listened, and then a smile slowly lit up her face. “Thank god.”

“Oh thank god!” Caroline felt dizzy with relief and jumped up to hug her mom. Every anxious thought and worry swirling around her mind had dissipated and she wiped a tear from her cheek, laughing.

Liz put down the phone and turned to them. “It’s not cancer. I’m okay.” She grinned.

Then the four of them were hugging, misty-eyed and smiling, the happiest family in Mystic Falls that day.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Caroline hugged April and the girls goodbye at the Grill and started walking to the station, basking in her happiness. It had been awesome catching up.

She’d tried reaching Tyler and the others but turns out they were already travelling, and they’d decided to meet when they got to her city. As crazy as it was, their road-trip-across-the-country plan actually sounded kind of fun.

She’d already booked a flight back the next night, and now she had time to just relax and do nothing. After helping her mom file paperwork– Liz hadn’t been using the flawless system Caroline had worked out for her– she found herself in the park. 

She sat down on the bench next to a tall lady with dark hair who was reading a book and looked vaguely familiar. But then again, who in this small town didn’t? She smiled politely at her and then grabbed some earphones from her purse and started listening to her favourite album.

She felt perfectly at ease as the wind gently tousled her hair and the sun shone down on her. Children ran around playing tag, teenagers chatted under trees, and couples strolled by, looking at the flowers. It actually made her forget about the next thing she had started to overthink and worry about: Stefan.

As the sun began to set, she got bored of listening to music and pulled the earphones out. The lady next to her was talking on her phone, and Caroline couldn’t help but overhear some snippets of the conversation.

“And you tell your brother to call me more often.” she was saying. “Oh, really? I’m sure reading ancient literature and skyping with Lexi must be  _very_  time consuming.”

_Lexi? Literature?_

Caroline turned to look at her. She kind of resembled Stefan.

“I’m fine. Yes, I like staying at the boarding house. Sarah is lovely company. Now tell me what you two have been up to.”

_Sarah_?

“Oh, he has a girlfriend now? That’s wonderful. What?  _Did you say she’s from Mystic Falls?_ Yes, the Sheriff is Liz Forbes. Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that. Why is he asleep at this hour? Oh. Ask him to call me when he wakes up. Bye.”

She put her phone down, only to notice Caroline staring at her.

“Hello” she ventured with a friendly smile.

“This is going to sound totally weird but are you, um, Stefan’s mom?”

The lady nodded, looking confused. “Yes, and you are?”

Caroline held out her hand, remembering her manners. “Caroline Forbes… I’m friends with your sons.”

“Lily Salvatore. It’s lovely to meet you. And from Damon told me, you’re more than friends with Stefan.”

Caroline blushed. To Lily, she was  _Stefan’s girlfriend_. “It’s a small world, huh?”

“How is your mother? Damon told me there was a medical emergency. I hope everything is alright.”

“It’s all fine, we heard from the doctor today”

Lily smiled. “That’s great!”

“So Stefan tells me he spent summers here?”

“He did for many years. We love this town so much, I moved here after the divorce and it’s perfect.”

“Yeah, it’s great.” Caroline didn’t know what else to say. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing. Wow, she really felt like an actual girlfriend meeting the parents for the first time.  _Pathetic_.

“Okay, this must be awkward, meeting the parents so soon, that too without your boyfriend.” she laughed. “I can’t wait to tell Stefan I met you, though.”

Caroline smiled. “Stefan and Damon are great. We live on their floor actually.”

“Is living near each other how you two met?”

“No, actually Damon and my best friends Elena and Bonnie sent us on a blind date” Caroline explained.

“Ah, typical Damon.” she shook her head. “You know, he told me Stefan is sleeping at  _this time of the day_. Apparently, he was up most of the night worrying about you with your friends.”

Caroline was at a loss for words, willing her cheeks not to go red and her mind not to go into overdrive on hearing that news, and was saved when they were interrupted by a young girl in a cheerleading uniform who ran up to them. “Aunt Lily, I’m so sorry I’m late” she panted, clutching at her sides. “Practice ran so late.”

“It’s no problem, Sarah, are you ready to grab dinner?”

_Sarah Salvatore_?

“This is Caroline Forbes” Lily introduced them. “She’s actually Stefan’s girlfriend.”

Sarah grinned. “Hey! Oh my god. You were head cheerleader, right?”

“That’s me. Wow, I remember cheer practice. Good old days.” Caroline smiled.

“So where’s Stefan?”

“He’s in the city. I just came to visit my mom” Caroline explained.

“Tell  _him_  to come visit  _us_. I miss him.”

“It was so nice to meet you. I really hope this wasn’t too awkward.” Lily said warmly.

_Little bit_ , Caroline thought,  _given how I’m your son’s fake girlfriend who has a real crush on him._

“No, not at all!” she replied.

“See you!” Sarah said and they both waved her goodbye before they walked away.

Caroline sat alone on the bench, dazed. Wow, she’d really just met Stefan’s mom. Ashis girlfriend.

And before she could even begin to gather her thoughts, her phone rang. And it was Stefan.

_Too much Salvatore time for one day_ , she thought. 

Despite herself, she had been wondering if he would call her again. She’d spoken to Bonnie and Elena, of course, and she knew they were always hanging out in the same loft,  _and_  he’d called her before the results, to check on her, so…

She snapped out of it and accepted the call.

“Caroline,” he started.

“Hey Stefan” she said nervously. It hit her it was her first time talking to him properly since she’d realised she liked him.

“I’m so glad your mom is okay. Bonnie and Elena told me, sorry I didn’t call sooner–”

“It’s fine,” she said, her heart skipping a beat at the sound of his concerned voice. “I’m just so relieved.”

“So how are you?”

“Good. Listen, you won’t believe who I just met” she said, laughing.

“Klaus Mikaelson?” Stefan joked.

She giggled. “Nope, your mom.”

“You… what? My mom?” he spluttered.

“Yeah I met her in the park! She was talking to Damon on the phone. He told her I was your girlfriend.”

“Oh”

“Is that okay?” she asked, feeling anxious again.

“Yeah, I guess. I just didn’t want this plan to go beyond our friends, you know? She loved Valerie, my last girlfriend, and was pretty sad when we broke up…”

“Oh. Well we only spoke for like five minutes, I doubt she loved me.”

“Of course she did.” he said simply.

Caroline blushed. She wondered if her cheeks were the ones with a medical problem.

“So when do you get back?” he asked hastily.

“Tomorrow night. Well technically, early morning. 4 A.M.”

“See you then”

“Yeah… I should go get dinner.” Just talking to him was playing havoc on her heart.

“Bye Caroline”

"Bye Stefan.” She hung up and put her head in her hands. 

He wasn’t making it any easier for her to get over her stupid crush on him.


	18. Chapter 18

Stefan couldn’t fall back asleep after his conversation with Caroline.

Also, this relationship was seriously messing up his sleeping pattern.

He didn’t want to disturb Damon and Elena or Bonnie and Enzo who were probably next door, so after reading in his room for a few hours he decided to go out for a late night stroll.

The moon was obscured by dark clouds, chilly wind blew through his carefully styled hair, and streetlights flickered over him. The street was mostly deserted. He smiled a little, thinking of how Damon and Lexi would call this a perfect setting for him.

Starving and not having eaten since lunchtime, he stopped at a mostly empty 24-hour diner. After ordering a burger, he sat there staring out of the window, lost in thought.

“You know, Damon and Enzo told me you were the loner, broody type, but I never really saw it until now.”

Stefan started a little and looked up to see Bonnie Bennett smiling at him.

“Hey Bonnie”

“Hey,” she sat down across from him. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“Nah. So, what’s up? How come you’re here?”

“I was gonna ask you that! This is my favourite place to eat in town so far. Have you tried their cheese fries? Heaven on a plate.”

Stefan quickly ordered some as the waitress walked past them.

“I was getting bored and Damon was with Elena so I came here.”

“Yeah same, there’s no interrupting those two. Enzo had work stuff and I couldn’t sleep.”

“How’s the teacher job going?”

“Good. Scary, but good.”

He smiled. “Kids are cute so that must help.”

She laughed. “Yep. I can totally see why things are going so well with Caroline! You’re total boyfriend material.”

Stefan tried not to look confused. Things were going ‘so well’?

Bonnie seemed to catch herself and bit her lip. “Sorry, best friend sharing…”

He nodded. “Yeah, things are great. We’re pretty serious.”

Bonnie grinned. “We  _should_  matchmake more often! Elena suggested… Nadia and Matt…. or ooh, maybe Kai and Vicki…”

Oh dear god.

“Hey, you guys got _lucky_ with us” Stefan interrupted.

What he was really thinking was,  _please spare the poor guys the angst I’m feeling right now._

“We really did, huh? This is so cool. Damon’s brother dating Caroline. Us six living in the same city. It’s the best.”

Stefan smiled back. “Must be awesome to have your childhood and college best friends, and boyfriend.”

Bonnie nodded. “Lexi is nice. Any plans of her moving here too?”

“That would be the best. But I don’t think so, she got a job in our old town… she’s going to visit soon though.”

“Great! …As long as Enzo didn’t really like her.”

“Oh no, he didn’t. He used to call me from college sometimes when Damon wasn’t in the room and lament about his feelings for you.”

Bonnie’s eyes sparkled. “What did he say?”

“ _Stefan, mate, there’s this girl, Bonnie_.” Stefan started in a British accent. “ _Her eyes are like emeralds and her smile is like the sun. She was in a study group with me once and she explained everything perfectly to me and it was like magic, mate. She is taken by this bloke on my floor and I fear she will never be mine…_ ”

Bonnie was shaking with laughter. “No… way” she gasped in between laughs.

“He  _might_  have been drunk that time.”

“You know what? We should have another group date!”

“After the park one? Pass.”

“No ditching this time, I swear. I’ll talk to Elena and Damon.”

It might be a good opportunity to show them how in love he and Caroline were. He held his hands up in defeat and then shoved a fry into his mouth. “Woah, this is good!”

“I know right? Oh yeah, I had to talk to you and Elena about this, how are we going to celebrate when Caroline returns?”

Stefan thought for a few moments. “She likes parties, right?”

“God, yeah, she always throws the best ones for us. When Elena decided to go into medicine. When I topped the exams. When Matt got promoted at the Grill. When Tyler and Vicki finally did each other and the town a favour and broke up. We need to do something epic.”

“But does she know that many people here yet? Work hasn’t even started for her.”

“Yeah…”

“Maybe we ask around, see if her college friends can make it?”

“None of them are close by, Caroline complains about it sometimes. It must be awful sometimes, not having them around… Oh, wait! Liam told me about this rave one of his friends were having here! Elena and Damon were totally going. I’ll text him for the details. She loves parties!  _And_  it’ll be a stress buster for her!”

Bonnie looked pleased with the idea but Stefan hesitated. 

It really wasn’t his scene. But it was Caroline’s, and she deserved some fun after everything she’d been through, and the prospect of being her boyfriend at a party with loud music and dancing people and flashing lights and alcohol made his heart skip a beat in anticipation. 

 _Oh god, alcohol,_  he realised. As much as he’d liked what had happened despite himself, it couldn’t happen again.

He realised Bonnie was watching him and snapped out of his internal turmoil. “Yeah, that sounds fun.”

“Aw. Damon’s first reaction was that you’d never go in a million years. I thought we’d have to talk you into it.”

“I’m a great boyfriend.”

“Okay, so I’ll talk to the others about it then. She’s gonna love the surprise! She said she went to one in college that had glowsticks and body paint and it was the best party she’d gone to all year”

“Here’s to hoping this one is as glowy” Stefan muttered, eating some more. “These fries are epic.”

“ _So_   _epic_.”

“So are you or Elena picking her up from the airport? She said she was coming early morning tomorrow.”

“Oh, I can’t, I have an early staff meeting tomorrow. And Elena will be at the hospital observing some surgery with her friends.”

“I can do it! After what she went through, it’s the least I can do.”

“Great.” Bonnie yawned. “Okay, I’m full and I’m sleepy.”

“Let’s head back.”

 

 

~*~

 

 

Stefan awoke to the buzzing of his phone next to his pillow.

Vision blurry, he hit the patch of green on the screen. “Hello?” he croaked.

“Hey Stefan.” came Caroline’s voice.

He sat up quickly, blinking. “Hi”

“Did I wake you? Sorry.”

“It’s okay, it’s just–” he glanced at the clock. “Afternoon, wow, I am going to kill Damon.”

She giggled. “Sleeping so well without me? I’m hurt.”

Stefan’s heartbeat quickened as he remembered what sleeping cuddled up with her was like. Suddenly, he missed her blue eyes and pretty smile and soft hair…  _what was he doing_?

“So how are you? What’s up?” she said quickly.

“Just woke up”

“Right, heh.”

“You?”

"I’m good. Bored. I was driving past the Salvatore estate and thought of you.” she said, and swiftly added “I’m hungry.”

“I went to this diner last night, ran into Bonnie, great fries.”

“Oh, she took me there! The ice cream sundae was so yum.”

“I gotta try that now. We should go there this week.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“How is it being back home?”

“So good. I wish half my friends weren’t on some cross country road trip, though.”

“That sounds fun. I always wanted to go to Europe, see the world.”

“Just not Paris, probably.” she said, her voice light again.

He laughed. “Will be steering clear of all European museums.”

“It does sound fun,” she admitted. “Maybe someday.”

“Yeah, someday…”

“Well I should go eat now or something. Bye!”

She hung up before he could say a word, and Stefan forced himself not to dwell on it. He got dressed and walked outside, wincing at the light. Someone had pushed all the curtains aside.

“Stefan! I was just about to wake you. What’s for lunch?”

“What’s stopping you from cooking?”

“Your talent at it, dear brother.”

Stefan sighed. “I’ll make something with what’s in the kitchen.”

“How I missed you in college! Want to play some Xbox?”

“Nah, I’m writing.”

“One day I will read your diaries, I promise.”

“They’re journals.”

“Same diff. On second thoughts, I don’t want to read them.” Damon said. “Dear Diary, I miss my childhood pet bunny Chester. Dear Diary, Lexi helped me quit weed. Dear Diary, I like the plants in the Estate back in Mystic Falls. Dear Diary, I’m mad at mom and dad for separating. Dear diary, Katherine is a bitch. Dear diary, Caroline is so pretty I just want to brood all day–”

“You’re cooking your own lunch” Stefan cut in.

“Dear Diary, I know Damon likes to bug me but deep down he loves me very much,” Damon said, batting his eyes sincerely.

“Ugh, fine.”

“By the way, Bon-bon told me you’re going to the rave too?”

“Yeah, to celebrate. For Caroline.” he clarified.

Damon jerked his arm in a whipping motion and made a whooshing sound.


	19. Chapter 19

Caroline looked out of the aeroplane window, watching as they descended, clouds dissolving as millions of pinpricks of light came into view. The city, her new home. Somewhere among the multicoloured glitter were Elena, Bonnie, Damon, Enzo… and Stefan.

Her fake boyfriend. Who she liked.

Who she was going to try her absolute best to get over.

For the hundredth time, she wondered angrily how she could be dumb enough to fall for him and put herself in this situation. Now she had to face the boy she liked and try and act nonchalant in front of him but in love in front of their friends, and somehow move on from someone who for all intents and purposes acted like her he liked her back most of the time. 

Separating all of it was going to be hell.

_Great going, Caroline._

Shouldn’t be too hard. The relationship wasn’t real. They were just friends.

She just had to keep telling herself that.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Under the fluorescent white lights of the airport, Caroline made her way to the exit, dragging her suitcase behind her.

She stopped as her phone buzzed in her purse. Fishing it out, she found herself staring at a text from Stefan Salvatore. Of course.

_‘Look up’_

She did, only to see him standing a few feet away, flowers in hand, smiling.

“Stefan! What are you doing here?” she exclaimed as her heart did strange things in her chest. 

_Why was he like this?_

“Picking you up, of course.” he handed her the daisies and took the suitcase from her.

“They’re beautiful, thank you." 

The guy even got her her favourite flowers. He really didn’t make it hard for one to develop feelings. "And you know you didn’t have to, right?”

“I wanted to! Just being a good fake boyfriend” he replied.

Right.

She reached up to hug him and pulled away as the moment she felt his arm around her, setting off those damn butterflies.

She struggled to think straight and act normal. “I got you something too,” she remembered suddenly, reaching into her purse. She handed him a small brown package.

Stefan pulled out a snow globe key chain of Mystic Falls, and looked at her with a surprised smile.

“I saw it at the gift shop at the airport. Reminded me of you. I know you love the town.”

“Thank you.” he said warmly, looking into her eyes. She couldn’t tell what was going on behind the forest green and looked away quickly.

“Let’s go home.” she said.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Caroline got home as dawn was breaking across the sky, took one look at the bed she realised she rarely got to sleep in and crashed.

When she woke up, the apartment was empty. Stuck to her mirror was a post-it that read ‘ _Glad you’re back, see you in the evening xoxo’_  in Elena’s handwriting. 

After eating an apple and some pudding from the fridge, Caroline decided to go to the library for a few hours and surf the internet on her laptop, maybe waste some time on social media. Or even read. She realised she could just ask Stefan for some books but she didn’t want to be around him or his damn room any more than necessary. She just had to hope that distance did  _not_  make the heart fonder.

After spending a few hours (that had flown by far too quickly) curled up on a bean bag in a corner of the comfortingly quiet library, she gathered her things and left the building. Looking wistfully at the setting sun and dreading seeing Stefan once more, she suddenly remembered that there had been no cereal in the kitchen that morning. She walked to the nearest supermarket and then idled some more over there, buying things she did absolutely not need (a Minnie Mouse mug, pepper flavoured gum, blood orange lip gloss, and some fresh lettuce.)

After going as far as to impulse buy a gossip magazine at the checkout counter, she trudged her way back to the loft. She wasn’t even past the front door before she was tackled by Bonnie and Elena.

“Care! You’re back!”

“We missed you!”

“We love you!”

“We’re so happy everything is okay!” the girls gushed.

“Thanks you guys, I love you too” Caroline laughed, her spirits soaring as she felt a surge of affection for her best friends.

“How was being back home? How is everyone? How’s Sheriff?” Bonnie asked.

“Great, she’s good.”

“What do you wanna do? Eat junk food? Rom-com marathon? Apartment cleaning session?” Elena asked.

Before Caroline could pick one of those amazing options, the door burst open, Salvatore brothers standing in the doorway.

“Heard all the squealing. Welcome back, Care-bear!” Damon exclaimed, flashing his crooked smile at her.

“Thanks, Damon” she replied.

“Did Steffy or the girls tell you how we’re going to celebrate?” he asked, glancing around the room, looking delighted.

“Uh, no?” Caroline looked at them curiously before her gaze landed on Stefan.

“We are… going to a rave” he said, looking vaguely uncomfortable.

“Oh my god, that sounds so much fun! When? Oh, I went to this one in college–”

“That was the best party ever and even had glow sticks, we know” Elena interrupted. “It’s tomorrow. Liam’s friend is throwing it.”

“Perfect! One last hurrah before work starts, I guess.”

“No, not you too, Blondie.” Damon muttered.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re starting work and so is Enzo… don’t leave me alone with Stefan all day.”

“I’m the one who will have to be around  _you_  all day,” Stefan shot back. “I’m going to practically live at the gym till the day I begin.”

“Just not my gym, please.”

“Why don’t you start actually looking for work?”

“I’m taking a break, dear brother. I’ve spent my life studying, I deserve it. Plus, Dad pays our bills.” he smirked.

“Your life has been the same as that of every normal student in the  _country_ , Damon–”

“My work hours aren’t that long right now, I’m just one of the three assistants…” Caroline interrupted their bickering.

“Oh good, hear that Stefan–” Damon began, only to be cut short by Elena.

“That’s so great! I wish I didn’t work at a hospital, the hours are crazy. And you get to spend more time with your boyfriend, lucky!”

“Yeah, I would have missed you.” Stefan turned to Caroline with a smile in his eyes. Despite herself, a foolish part of her thought it was genuine. Damn it, why was he such a good actor?

She smiled back, before quickly changing the subject. “Okay, I am starving. I was so busy at the library, I forgot to eat lunch. What’s for dinner?”

The girls looked at each other blankly.

“Worry not ladies, chef Stefan here will whip something up.”

“I’m not going to cook three meals a day, Damon, stop being so lazy–”

“Oh my god, I’m ordering pizza.” Bonnie groaned and put her phone to her ear and walked into her room.

Damon plopped onto the couch with a beer in hand, talking softly to Elena about something that reduced her to peals of laughter.

Stefan and Caroline sat down on the other couch.

“So, the plan’s going on track…” he started.

_Other than me falling for you._

“Yeah, totally. I mean, we go on dates, kiss, sleep in one room, what’s left?”

“A declaration of love?”

Caroline swallowed. “Yep.”

“Maybe a grand gesture?”

“You handle that one” she muttered.

“Okay” he replied simply.

She bit her lip, willing herself to look at ease.

“You okay?” Stefan’s forehead creased as he looked at her as if trying to gauge her thoughts.

“I’m fine. Yeah, I think it’s going well. We just stick to it for a while, keep up a routine when I have work too, lull them into thinking it’s all peachy, and then–”

“Crash and burn.”

“Throw them into a panic.” She added.

“Worst breakup in history, remember?”

The last time they’d discussed the breakup, they were both laughing, imagining the guilt their friends would feel, filled with glee at the prospect of pranking them so cleverly, tricking them at their own game.

Now, there wasn’t a smile in sight.

She didn’t want it to end. It hurt to remember that it would.

And then she mentally chastised herself. It was sad that she was enjoying a fake relationship this much.

“What… what reason do we give them for the breakup?” He asked, looking away, but not before she’d caught his expression grow even more serious.

Why did he look serious? Was this getting to be too much for him?

“What’s wrong?” She asked carefully.

He smiled at her, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Nothing, I’m just tired. We’ll still be friends, right?”

The hope she felt at his words just made the despair that followed worse. She felt like a small goblin was punching her heart again and again.

“Of course! You were my first close friend in town, you know.”

The corners of his mouth turned up a little. “You too. This was actually fun, hanging out with you.”

The goblin really hated her. She mustered up a smile and replied. “We just can’t be seen together while we’re fighting, and when we reveal it was a prank, we go back to spending time together. But normally, as friends.”

“Good plan… so why do we break up again?” He asked again

“Uh…” Caroline started to think. “You decide you’re tired of me?”

“Caroline! That couldn’t happen, you’re actually my friend! And that makes me sound like a douchebag.”

“Okay, okay.” Caroline wished there was a button she could hit when talking to Stefan that would turn her feelings off so she didn’t feel hope, anxiety, anguish, heartache, and anger at herself for feeling all of the above in a constant loop.

“How about you’re not ready for a relationship?”

“They’ll never buy it. I haven’t been in one for over a year, plus I was lamenting about being tired of being single for days before I moved here.”

“Really?” He smirked. “And you were never tempted to call Klaus?”

She narrowed her eyes in mock offence and smacked his arm. “Ha ha, very funny. I’ll date Damon before I date him. I say you cheat on me with Rayna.”

Stefan’s mouth fell open. “Damon would never buy it! He knows I would never. How about  _you_ cheat on me with one of your exes when they arrive here?”

“Yeah, no, Tyler has a girlfriend who I love and after how things ended with Matt, no thank you. Besides, the girls wouldn’t buy it. I’ve never cheated on anyone, it’s one of the worst things you could ever do, it’s cowardly and–”

“And cruel and wrong to betray someone’s trust like that. How anyone can even live with themselves after that is beyond me.”

Caroline looked at him approvingly. “You really are Prince Charming, you know? All noble and righteous.”

“So are you. Noble and moral and kind, I mean.”

 _Did the guy seriously jump out of a Hallmark movie?_ Was his life’s mission to prevent her from getting over him?

“Great. So we’re too perfect to break up.” She flopped back against the couch with a loud sigh of frustration.

Damon and Elena looked at them curiously. “Lover’s quarrel?” Damon asked.

“No way” Stefan said, leaning in close to kiss Caroline. Her eyes fluttered shut and she reached up to grip his shirt and pull him closer, her annoyance dissolving into longing when she felt his hands brush against her side.

“We cross that bridge when we come to it,” he whispered as he pulled away, shifting so his arm was around her. She leaned her head on his shoulder, playing with his fingers on an unconscious impulse as she thought about what he’d said. How long would it be exactly, until a logical reason to break up cropped up?

She looked up to see Elena still looking at her curiously, and turned to Stefan. He was watching their hands as if it was the most natural thing in the world. To her, that’s what it felt like. And to the others, it looked like a regular couple sitting together and being cute.

 _Well played, Stefan_ , she thought as Elena smiled softly at her and went back to talking to Damon.

“You know, a few weeks of dating is fine too if we find a reason by then. Who says it needs to be months?” She blurted out.

Stefan’s expression was guarded. “Okay.”

And then she kicked herself. Because even though she’d suggested it, and it was a pretend relationship, and they’d just been analyzing their future breakup in great detail, him agreeing with breaking up early so easily made her feel uneasy.

And that was why it was better in the long run, as much as she hated it (and then hated herself for hating it–really, what the fuck.)

The sooner this charade ended, the sooner would her conflicted feelings and stupid crush go away, and her mind would be a far more tranquil place.


	20. Chapter 20

Stefan woke up to find Caroline’s back to him and his arm around her waist. Again.

As always, her hair smelled like the flowers at the estate. The scent filled him with a strange feeling of peace. Like the world had come to a standstill and it didn’t even matter as long as he had her in his arms. 

He found himself not wanting to let go of her. 

The naturalness of it all almost lulled him back to sleep, but there was something buzzing in the back of his mind that he struggled to put his finger on.

Vaguely, he registered the smell of paint as his eyes focused on a lock of Caroline’s hair that was bright pink against her maroon tank top. It disoriented him enough that his mind cleared and he quickly pulled away, fully awake.

They hadn’t gone to sleep together last night _,_  he realised.

And he was shirtless.

How had they ended up like this? Did she sleepwalk or something, or was he having some sort of memory lapse? And since when did he wake up this early?

Feeling unusually annoyed at himself, he got out of bed, tearing his gaze away from how peaceful and beautiful she looked asleep, and headed to the kitchen to make himself some coffee.

This was killing him. How could he focus on keeping his feelings for her platonic when he woke up literally cuddling with her most mornings? How could he let his real feelings get mixed up in a fake relationship? How sad was that?

“Ugh, my alarm didn’t go off…” Caroline’s voice drifted from his room a few minutes later as she stumbled out, bleary-eyed, the pink streak in her hair falling in her face.

“Hey…” he started hesitantly, unsure of what to say.

Her smile froze on her face and her eyes widened as she looked him up and down. “Hey,” she said, her cheeks flushing a bit. Stefan realised he was still not wearing a shirt and couldn’t help but smile at the endearing way she looked away quickly.

“Oh my god, you must be wondering what I’m doing in your room,” she said suddenly, looking back at him. “Late last night I couldn’t sleep so I decided to paint my room with the paint Elena got for me, the prettiest pink shade by the way, and then I got tired but the paint fumes made it impossible to sleep there, so I came to ask if I could sleep with you but you were already asleep, and I don’t sleep on couches on principle, so when–”

“It’s totally fine.” Stefan said reassuringly, interrupting her ramble.

She exhaled, tension dissolving from her face, and smiled back at him. They stared into each other’s eyes from across the counter for a few moments. Stefan was completely lost in the brilliant blue-green when a loud sound from Damon’s room broke his trance.

“Let me sleep, Damon!” Elena’s voice growled.

Caroline bit her lip, her forehead creasing again. “Right. I could’ve just slept in Elena’s room. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Hey, no one thinks at like one A.M,” Stefan said. 

It wasn’t like he was complaining.

“Yeah…” She still looked embarrassed, so Stefan jerked his mug towards her, trying to change the topic.

“Coffee?”

Instead of going to the machine, Caroline grabbed his mug and took a sip, still lost in thought.

God, it was so  _natural_. It felt so real, it gave Stefan a funny feeling in his chest, like someone was squeezing it, and he looked down at the counter, trying to clear his head of the stupid romanticism Damon always teased him for.

“So, the party’s tonight.” Caroline prompted, trying to fill the silence.

He sat down next to her. “Excited?”

She nodded, her eyes brightening.

He really wasn’t, but it was worth it to see the light in her eyes, especially after what she’d been through. He still had to figure out his game plan. He shouldn’t drink like he’d decided a few mornings ago, but he was going to a  _rave_. A few shots couldn’t hurt, after all…

“I bet Damon really wanted to go, huh?” Caroline said with a laugh that didn’t feel all that genuine.

 _Great_. Now she was asking about his brother, who she barely even spoke to. Things felt  _different_. Their usual easy and friendly and close dynamic was gone. They both felt too exposed, and the silence was growing awkward, and Stefan wasn’t sure who was at blame.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to just say it. “Things are weird, aren’t they? I mean we’ve been a pretend couple for days now, and this morning… things are weird...”

“No, not  _weird,_ Stefan…” she started, shaking her head, face screwed up in a smile that was both confused and dismissive.

Oh. So it was just him. Why had he felt the need to vocalise it for the first time? Now she might be able to tell that he maybe felt something more for her.

“We’re friends.” He said quickly, and it was more of a question than a statement.

“Yeah, of course!” She looked at him, bewildered. “In fact, you’re practically the best friend I’ve made here.” She was looking into his eyes again, hers shining with honesty, like she needed him to believe that.

He smiled softly at her and then turned to get some more coffee, not quite sure what to say next.

And yet, when Damon walked into the room, he felt a twinge of annoyance.

“Morning, lovebirds,” Damon said, unusually subdued.

“Why do you sound so down?” Caroline asked.

“Elena’s hospital hours are crazy. Says she’s gonna mostly sleep on her day off.” He muttered.

“Well she has to wake up in time for the rave!” Caroline exclaimed.

Damon seemed to cheer up a bit when reminded of the party and poured cereal for everyone, announcing that this was him cooking breakfast.

“Okay, I’m off. If Elena isn’t up by like six, call me and Bonnie.” Caroline said after finishing hers, pushing herself off her stool. She stopped in front of Stefan and he looked up her from the stool his tall frame was crouched on.

“See you later” she said gently, her arms twining around his neck.

His arms circled her waist in response as he pulled her to him and rested his forehead against hers, watching as her eyes fell shut. “I love you” he whispered back.

He hadn’t even realised he’d said it until her eyes snapped open. The confusion on her face morphed into something more conflicted in a matter of seconds. She gulped and smiled back at him, but her eyes looked…pained?

“I love you too.” she replied softly.

The squeezing feeling in his chest was back. It wasn’t real, but he wanted to live in it forever. Live in the world where they both meant it completely. A world where it wasn’t pre-discussed, said for the benefit of their friends, the product of a pretend relationship.

She pressed her lips to his cheek, her hands still in the back of his hair when she pulled away. “Bye”

She was out the door before he knew it.

Stefan fixed his eyes on his cereal and pushed it around with the spoon, trying to process and rationalise what had just happened. A minute later he looked up to see Damon looking thoroughly amused.

He raised his eyebrows in way of demanding an explanation.

Damon started shaking with laughter. “Oh Steffy, you two really are interesting.”

“Why?” He half snapped, trying not to look worried about what Damon meant by that.

“It’s so funny, your first ‘I love you’ and you blurted it out over cereal!”

“What makes you think it was the first?” Stefan asked, his tone defiant. It wasn’t even Damon; it was himself he was mad at.

“She looked like a deer caught in headlights.”

“I’ll have you know she texted me ’ _ily_ ’ before.”

Damon’s lips quirked up again. “Over the phone then? My bad. Someone’s relationship is moving fast.”

Though she had been with the girls that time, he remembered. And it had been ’ _thx ily_ ’ because he’d offered to cook dinner whenever she wanted.

He shook his head, almost laughing out loud at himself. So what? It’s not like it had been any more real this time around. For Bonnie and Elena’s benefit or Damon’s, what difference did it make?

“Good god brother, stop brooding!” Damon interrupted his flow of thought. “I’m going to shower. See ya.”

Stefan glanced at his untouched bowl and decided to go for a run.

 

 

~*~

 

 

He’d only been running for around ten minutes when he got a call from an unknown number.

“What up, Stefan?” Came Lexi’s voice through his headphones.

“Lexi? What number are you calling from?”

“My girlfriend’s. Mine was dead. Oh by the way,  _I have a new girlfriend!_ ”

Stefan smiled, slowing down. “Awesome! Tell me about it. Also, aw, you have my number memorised?”

“Of course, dummy, we’ve been best friends since elementary school?”

“Still touching.”

After a few more rounds of the park and Lexi telling him everything there was to know about her and Cami O'Connell, the conversation finally turned to his ‘girlfriend.’

“So how are things with Caroline?”

“Okay. Nothing major happened since the makeout session that night. She’s back in town now, we’re going to a rave tonight to celebrate her mom being okay…”

“Stefan Salvatore, what aren’t you telling me?”

Stefan sighed. “I said 'I love you’ to her this morning.” He confessed miserably.

“You did  _what_? Wait, you love her?”

“What?  _No_! I don’t know! We’d discussed doing it to convince the others more, but instead of saying it in front of everyone, I accidentally said it over breakfast. In front of Damon.”

“Well, at least she thinks it was plan-related.”

“Yeah but…it can get a lot. Kissing and cuddling and stuff. All the time. And I don’t know what she’s thinking. She’s a really good actress.”

“Oh babe, I hate seeing you so conflicted. Cheer up. It’ll be over before you know it and then you can sort your feelings out in the peaceful haven of friendship.”

“We  _are_  friends.”

“You know what I mean. One hundred percent just friends, in front of everyone or whatever.”

“You’re right.” Stefan stopped running, panting for air.

“Back to this rave, have fun, okay. But aren’t you worried about a repeat of what happened the last time you both drank too much?”

“I… plan to avoid that at all costs.”

“But?” Lexi prompted.

“But it was amazing.”

“Pull yourself together! I’m honestly not even worried about you doing anything on purpose because we all know how righteous you are, but this is causing you way too much turmoil.”

“It’s fine. Maybe it’s just boredom and will go away once work starts…”

Lexi wasn’t convinced. “If only you two had decided on some friends with benefits scenario instead of this lame ass fake relationship–”

“Bye Lex” Stefan cut in.

“Fine, I think I heard Cami wake up anyway. Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

He would really need it.


	21. Chapter 21

Caroline hadn’t gone for a proper party since the string of wild bashes that had happened to celebrate college graduation. Needless to say, she was excited. And the extrovert in her was delighted at the opportunity to meet some new people in this city.

She, Bonnie and Elena crowded around the fairly big bathroom mirror, applying finishing touches to their makeup and carefully styling their hair. She had to admit, they looked hot. Bonnie wore a tiny, flimsy black dress and had her hair falling in waves, Elena wore a sheer crop top with super short shorts and her brown hair in a long ponytail, and Caroline had on a glitzy off-shoulder top paired with her plain old cheerleading skirt that was so tiny she almost threw it away, but it looked good and she was celebrating. She deserved to de-stress.

There wasn’t a particular reason she was putting this much effort into her appearance or anything, she thought as she flat-ironed her hair straight. She had been ignoring the nervous ball of energy in her stomach all day, which Stefan’s declaration of love had only intensified. She knew it was for Damon’s benefit, obviously, but she couldn’t help the feelings it stirred up.

She just had to focus on having fun in the last few days of this stage of her life. Soon, she’d start her job, and everything would be different. She  _was_  going to get over this mess.

“Care, wear the red lipstick,” Elena’s voice interrupted Caroline’s stream of thought. “It looks like, bomb on you.”

“And maybe some smokey eye?” Bonnie asked, eyeing Caroline’s soft glimmery eye makeup.

Caroline looked at the clock and saw they barely had fifteen minutes. She turned to them suspiciously. “What’s up? In high school you usually suggested I tone it down.”

“It’s just, this is a rave, and your first party with your perfect new boyfriend, we want you to look perfect. Not that you don’t already look stunning.” Bonnie said.

“Aw, thanks you guys.” Caroline smiled warmly at her best friends. “You both look fantastic too, by the way.”

Fifteen minutes later, the girls were ready to go. Caroline grabbed her purse and followed them out of the apartment, where the boys waited near the lift. Stefan did a double take when he saw her, and she beamed with satisfaction on the inside.

“Wow… you look…” Stefan cleared his throat, looking serious again. “Great.” He seemed unable to tear his gaze away until Damon punched his arm.

“Stefan is very taken with you, Caroline, but none of us wants to be witness to this ogling session going on.”

Caroline looked away, blushing, a smile on her lips, and Stefan seemed to turn slightly red too.

Was his reaction real? Or just some brilliant acting?

Ugh, she was too exhausted to try and figure this clusterfuck out. She just wanted to relax. Feeling annoyed at this Stefan situation and simultaneously optimistic now that the awful cloud of her mother’s illness was no longer hanging over her head, she grabbed Elena’s purse and took out the small flask of vodka and took a long swig.

Bonnie and Elena burst out laughing while Enzo and Stefan stared at her in mild shock.

“Woah, slow down Blondie, let’s at least get to the rave first.”

“I’m fine,” Caroline muttered, draining the flask, which made her head swim. “College increased my tolerance by like, a twenty-fold.” She thrust it back into a now speechless Elena’s hands, and tried to walk to the lift but stumbled and was about to hit the ground when Stefan caught her instantly, his arm securely around her waist, his deep eyes looking down at her intensely like… some kind of green fairy pool.

“Stupid heels.” Caroline sighed, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach.

Stefan took her hand in his and helped her up, and then wrapped an arm around her back, propping her up just in case. “You okay?” He seemed concerned.

“Yeah, let’s go!”

“Caroline, do you want to sit for a bit?” Bonnie asked, looking a bit worried.

“You shouldn’t have downed that on an empty stomach,” Elena said, exchanging glances with Stefan.

“I’ll be okay, don’t worry you guys. I just want to have fun.”

She was aware she was being unreasonable and acting out of character. It was like a switch had been flipped in her, and she felt free and euphoric, all of her apprehensions and past anxieties dissolving. She wasn’t even sure where this was coming from. Looks like she had been a lot more stressed than she’d let herself realise, and with all the change going on, she’d unconsciously been longing for the careless days of uni. This was her chance to unwind, and she was determined to take it. It really wasn’t a big deal, she wasn’t going to go out of control or anything.

“I’m not high school Caroline, Elena. You’ve both been off having fun together for the last four years, well guess what, so have I. We don’t know each other as well as we used to, but I can handle myself now.” She shot back, and pulled away from Stefan, walking into the elevator without stumbling. “I’m already sobering up.” She said, carefully enunciating every word.

“Care, where is this coming from?” Elena asked, looking hurt.

“It’s fine, let her have fun this one night before reality catches up with us again,” Damon interjected.

She grinned at him. “Thank you. I knew there had to be something good about you.”

Damon clutched his chest in mock emotion. “I’m touched.”

Stefan followed her into the elevator, a muscle ticking in his jaw as he stood beside her silently, looking like he was a statue cut from marble. She wondered if he knew how beautifully chiselled he was. As she gave him another once-over, she realised that of course he was well aware. Guys who looked like that had girls fawning over them all the time. How hadn’t it gotten to his head like Damon? Was this an act? It couldn’t be, she chided herself. Stefan Salvatore was annoyingly sincere and noble.

“Chill, Stefan. I’m fine. Let’s all have fun.” She said to him.

“Okay.” He said, still looking serious. The rest of the elevator ride passed in dead silence.

The fresh air outside cleared her head more, and as she walked behind the group with her boyfriend the guilt of what she’d just said to her best friends hit her. She knew where it had come from; she’d felt super excluded the first few months of college knowing her best friends were having fun without her. She’d always been insecure about her friendships and the situation had just magnified the FOMO. Even when she’d made peace with it and adjusted to her new life, she felt pangs of it sometimes when she saw their Snapchat or Instagram. She’d been elated when they moved to the same city, but there were moments every day she felt left out. She did her best to ignore it, but the alcohol had made her vocalise it in a way she would never have done before.

It wasn’t fair of her; it wasn’t their fault. They were always good friends to her and had best of all, they understood her. They’d always tried to make sure she’d feel as little of her trademark insecurity as possible. She caught up to her best friends and slung an arm around each of their shoulders from behind.

“Hey guys, I’m so sorry. I lashed out, it wasn’t fair. I’ll be in control for the rest of the night, I promise.”

They moved to the side, making space for Caroline to walk in the middle, and threw their arms around her too.

“It’s okay, babe. We don’t realise sometimes how it must have felt for you to watch us spend all those years without you.” Elena said, smiling apologetically at her.

“Yeah, we forget sometimes that you had a whole different life in college and don’t know what we’re talking about,” Bonnie added.

“We’re together now,” Caroline grinned as they came to a halt in front of the cars.

“I have an idea! Let’s divide into guys and girls for the ride to the warehouse.” Bonnie said.

“Yes! Quality time.” Elena said happily as Enzo tossed her the keys to his car.

“Sure, as long as the Salvatores don’t bite each other’s heads off at the red light or whatever.”

 

~*~

 

It was a fun journey, with them blasting hits from their high school days and singing along at the top of their voices. Caroline was pretty sure Elena was sexting Damon from the back seat because of the picture she’d caught her taking when she had turned around… good for her and her relationship, she supposed.

She stared at the warehouse once they pulled up at the rave, listening to the music pounding in the distance. It seemed promising. “This better be like Aiden’s blacklight rave at that Hale loft,” she muttered as she made her way to Stefan and entwined her fingers with his.

Upon entering, they were greeted with the sight of hundreds of bodies packed closely together, moving to the deafening music. Caroline’s spirits instantly lifted upon seeing the drinks glowed, as did the paint on people’s bodies.

“Well, you got what you wanted, Caroline,” Enzo said, looking around.

“It glows.” Stefan finally spoke, the corners of his mouth twisting up a little.

“Let’s hit the bar.”

They found the massive bar with no problem, and she turned to one of three bartenders. “Let’s start with shots. Keep ‘em coming.” She said.

“For us too.” Elena gestured to the group.

After the first two rounds, they drifted off into couples. Elena was showing Damon something on her phone and giggling, and Bonnie and Enzo were making out against the counter. Caroline looked away and her gaze landed on Stefan.

She herself hadn’t been very love-y towards him that day, what with blanking during the “I love you” in front of Damon in the morning and brushing Stefan off and barely speaking to him in the evening. Emboldened by the alcohol and registering the need to prove their relationship to her friends, she threw her arms around him, revelling in the feel of his hand on the small of her back, holding her close.

“Did I tell you I love you?” She said, loudly enough for them to hear.

“I love you too” he gazed at her in his broody, intense manner.

She noticed his second glass lying untouched and raised her eyebrows.

“No more for me, thanks. Someone has to be sober.”

“Who says? Enjoy your youth, Stefan. Come on.”

Stefan looked unconvinced, conflict brewing in his eyes.

“Or do I need to break out the weed? I’m sure this place is crawling with dealers.”

Stefan’s face broke into a smile, and Caroline grinned back, warmth spreading in her chest.

“You should smile more, you’re hot.”

He gulped down the shot and signalled for another round. “Thank you.” He said, sounding slightly cocky. Well. That was a side of Stefan she hadn’t seen before.

She ordered another round.

“Just one more,” Stefan said.

She rolled her eyes. “Ignore him,” she told the bartender. “We deserve some fun, Stefan. When was the last time you let go?”

He nodded. “Okay, you’re right.”

After a few minutes of drinking and laughing over how brilliantly they were playing their friends, just like the first night they had met, and slipping furtherer and furtherer away from sobriety, they saw Bonnie and Enzo making their way towards them.

“Shh, they’re coming!” Caroline hissed.

Without missing a beat, Stefan pulled her to his chest, holding her close as he cupped her cheek with a hand and kissed her.

The addition of alcohol to Stefan kissing her passionately made Caroline feel the most incredible high. It was like liquid fire had spread to every nerve in her body. She melted into his strong arms, wanting to savour the moment forever, and was interrupted by the sound of Enzo clearing his throat.

They pulled away, but Stefan didn’t move his arm from her waist or his hand from her cheek.

“Ahem, mate, we’re going to dance. Catch you later.” Enzo said awkwardly.

“I have my phone if you need to reach me,” Bonnie added.

“Don’t worry, we aren’t getting out of here until morning light,” Caroline replied.

“Let’s just leave whenever we want, couples-wise. See you in the loft.” Stefan said, his voice delightfully hoarse, sending a wave of desire shooting through Caroline.

“Sure”

Caroline grabbed the neck of his T-shirt and pulled his lips to hers, resuming their slow, electrifying kiss that sent thrills down her stomach.

Suddenly, the music blasting from the massive speakers registered in her mind. “Wait, this is my favourite song. Come on!”

She grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the crowded dance floor.

“Hey!” A girl with a large number of piercings grinned at her. “Want some body paintings?” She asked, holding up a handful of paints.

Caroline glanced around and noticed everyone had some form of glowing artwork on their bodies. She even saw Bonnie and Elena dancing a few meters away with some patterns that shone on their arms and legs.

“Yes, oh my god!”

“What would you like?”

“Um… a butterfly on my cheek, and some swirly patterns on my chest and torso.”

The girl looked at her questioningly. “Your top kinda covers that, sweetie.”

“Oh, that? I wore this bra for this very reason.” She grinned, taking her top off in one quick move. Her bra glowed as blue.

It had been a genius buy from three years ago. It brought out her eyes, and it was perfect for parties like these.

Stefan seemed unable to tear his darkening gaze away from her as the girl painted her body with the shimmering colours. Once she was done, she stepped back to review her work, and Stefan stepped in.

“I think you missed a spot,” he said, taking one of the brushes from her can and dropping to his knees before Caroline, gripping her side with one hand and beginning to glide the cool paint against her burning body in smooth strokes, making her shiver.

“So you’re painting on me now?” She asked, trying her hardest to sound unaffected but failing as her voice came out in a husky tone.

“You’ll like it.” He gripped her more firmly, as the brush moved all over one spot on her side, and Caroline tried her hardest not to tremble.

“Done.” He said, and moved to blow over it to dry the paint. It was too much for Caroline and she dropped down to him, hands gripping his hair, and kissed him desperately. His hands moved from her waist to her face, and she welcomed his pull, moving closer to each other until there was no space between their bodies and they were just making out on the floor. The rush was exhilarating.

“Uh, I’ll leave you to it then.” The girl’s voice floated down from somewhere.

Stefan pulled away. “No, wait. One more painting, please.”

The girl looked at Caroline’s face and laughed. “Looks like you took care of her cheek.”

Caroline whipped out her phone and stared at herself in the reflection. Instead of the butterfly she wanted, there were three streaks of ice blue paint from Stefan’s fingers. Surprised, she turned to him with a smile. “I like this better.”

Stefan smirked.

“Wait, what did you paint?” She remembered suddenly. Her mind had completely blanked once Stefan’s hands were on her. The girl held up a mirror and Caroline saw a perfect star on one corner of her waist, glowing blue among the pink swirls.

“You shine.” He said simply when she looked at him questioningly.

Damn it. Even when they were drunk out of their minds and he had just been painstakingly teasing her, he was romantic. He really was the perfect boyfriend. She was so unlucky.

“I didn’t mean her,” He turned to the girl, and took his shirt off.

It was Caroline’s turn to stare.

After the girl was done painting flames down his back and onto his torso and shoulders, she handed Caroline the brush. “I’ll leave you to it.” She muttered, walking away.

“Thank you, they’re beautiful!” Caroline called out at her retreating back.

She turned to Stefan and ran a hand across his muscled torso, making sure her touch was soft and fluttering, and then slowly, deliberately, delighted in his laboured breathing, painted a blue symbol on his side, right where her star was.

The moment she was done and began to blow on it, Stefan yanked her up and started kissing her neck, making her eyes fly shut and her breaths come in sighs.

“Stefan,” she whispered. No response.

“Stefan.” She said louder, and he pulled away at once, looking at her curiously.

“Come on,” She grabbed his hand and pulled him further into the dance floor. No way was this night going by without her dancing.

She spent what seemed like hours dancing to her heart's content, with Bonnie and Elena, with Enzo, with strangers, with Liam and Nadia, until her back suddenly crashed into something hard and warm and she felt a strong arm snake around her. 

“Stefan,” she breathed.

“Caroline.” was his simple response.

They started swaying to the pulsating music, bodies pressed closely together, and she grinded closer to him. The skin-on-skin felt amazing, and their hands were all over each other. They seemed to be hypnotised, her body rising and falling, his hands teasing, their hips rocking, breaths uneven, and eyes widening with desire. Aching lust ran through her body and Caroline never wanted to stop.

The ever-present voice of caution in her head was nowhere to be heard, and she doubted she’d listen to it even if it was. They had been too intoxicated the whole night by the lights, the music, each other, and their feelings of lust and desire, to think of their relationship or feelings or policy of distance.

“What did you draw?” His breath was hot against her ear.

“An S,” She replied. “The symbol on your ring, and also your superhero hair.”

His seductive smile melted into one of those intense, burning stares, and he pulled her into him. Once their lips met, it was over. They managed to stumble to the stairway, but the narrow space just had them crashing into each other again, until Stefan was sitting on one of the stairs and Caroline was straddling his lap as she kissed him, burning pangs of desire coursing through the pit of her stomach, making her grind further into him as he let out a curse, followed by a desperate moan of her name which nearly drove her off the edge.

Somehow, they found a bare, empty room upstairs with a single mattress, and spent the night away in pure ecstasy, finally, after dancing around it for what had been far too long.


	22. Chapter 22

Drums were beating in the distance.

The pounding grew louder and more intense until Stefan finally opened his eyes with a groan to look for the source.

He realised it was his head. Trying to think coherently in the face of his killer hangover, he sat up in the fluffy white sheets. Blinking in the bright sunlight, he found himself staring at walls that looked... wooden?

He started.  _Where was he?_

His eyes swept the pristine room and his gaze landed on the figure sleeping next to him. A figure with blonde eyes and smears of blue on her cheek and a peaceful smile on her lips–

The previous night's events came crashing back to his consciousness and he froze.

The knowledge of what had happened– what he'd let happen, and worst of all, enjoyed that much– paired with the disorientation was too much for him. It reminded him too much of nights with Katherine, when he'd wake hungover, drugs still buzzing in his system, unsure of where he was and what was going on. He scrambled out of the bed and burst outside.

This wasn't the warehouse. It was some sort of cabin.

He went back into the room and gently shook Caroline awake. He was dreading looking her in the eye. He didn't know what to make of the previous night, and he was afraid she'd say something that would confirm it was nothing. He  _knew_  it was nothing; the result of alcohol and the wild party, but his feelings had been all over the place for too long and this wasn't going to help.

Her bright blue eyes fluttered open and she looked so peaceful and beautiful he wondered how anything about this could have ever reminded him of Katherine.

Her eyebrows furrowed and he could see the realisation hit her as her eyes widened and the peacefulness she was looking at him morphed into confusion and then mortification. Her cheeks flushed and she bit her lip as she sat up quickly. He didn't know how to start talking to her. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea, even though that was the most amazing night of his life and he just wanted her to be happy, even if it meant she didn't want him like he wanted her.

"Stefan, hey. Uh..."

"You have a coat on" He realised suddenly.

She looked down. "Oh, um... but I remember... didn't we?"

"We did."

"So... where did this come from?"

"No idea... we were wasted."

"Wait,  _where_   _are we_?" She asked, looking around.

"I have no clue, it looks like a cabin."

"This has got to be a dream" She muttered.

They stepped into the hallway, careful to keep a distance, and Stefan was painfully aware of the distance between them. Both physical and metaphorical.

Stefan called out Damon's name while she dialled her friends' numbers, but before they could do anything else a familiar face popped up at the end of the hallway.

"Nadia?" Caroline asked incredulously.

"What the fuck is going on?" Stefan said.

'Shh, not so loud." She groaned, clutching her head.

They followed her to the dining table in the lobby of the cabin and she gestured to the sheet of aspirin lying there.

"What's going on is we all got hammered and decided to hire a party bus at 5 am to drive up to my family's cabin. Damon found you in a room upstairs and you guys were more than happy with the idea."

"I have no recollection of that." Caroline groaned.

Nadia snorted. "Yeah, you guys were gone. Couldn't even find your shirts. You just had your bra and skirt. Elena was worse. Coffee?"

"Sure. Where are the others?" Stefan asked.

"They're out cold. The roads up here are closed because of the snow this morning, so enjoy the warmth of my family's beloved vacation house I guess. We can't leave until tomorrow.

He stared tersely into space, still refusing to look at Caroline.

Nadia eyed them warily. “Everything okay, you two?”

“Yeah, of course.” Caroline said unconvincingly.

"So, the heating's on, there are extra blankets in the cupboards, and there's hot water if you want to shower. I'm going to wake Liam up. See ya." She sighed and trudged up the stairs to what was probably the master bedroom.

"It's a pretty cabin" Caroline mumbled. "Is that Kai on the couch?"

Stefan almost laughed at the sight of Kai sprawled asleep on his stomach under layers of blankets, his face covered in purple paint. Almost. Now that he was alone with Caroline, his heart was sinking. And beating too fast. It wasn't a fun combination.

She grabbed a plate of toast while he grabbed two mugs of coffee, and they made their way back to their room, out of earshot. They sat on opposite corners of the bed, staring at the plate between them.

Everything had changed.

"So..." He started slowly.

Caroline let out a scoff, a sarcastic smile plastered on her face. "I guess we can add friends with benefits now to our fake relationship."

Was she mad at him?

"I'm sorry, Caroline. I never meant for–"

She looked up at him in surprise. "Are you kidding? How is it your fault?"

"It's not yours."

Her bitter smile only intensified as she shook her head. "I'm the one who was so determined to have a good time."

Watching how deeply she regretted it drove daggers into Stefan's heart. She was  _mad at herself_.

"That shouldn't happen again," Stefan said, even though it was killing him.

With that sentence, the anger in her eyes seemed to dissolve into sadness. What was going on?

"No more alcohol till this is over, huh?"

_Their plan was still on?_

Caroline caught Stefan's look of confusion and her eyebrows furrowed. "The prank is still happening, right?"

"You tell me." He wanted to leave it up to her.

She looked defeated. "I mean... we've come so far."

"It does seem pointless to give up after all this." He agreed.

Pathetic. It was going to bring him so much turmoil, but he couldn't bear to let her go from his life as long as she would have him.

"Yeah. Just a little longer."

"We just have to act in front of them."

"Your job's about to start anyway."

They gave each other a tiny nod of agreement and then ate their breakfast in silence.

 

~*~

 

When Caroline ducked into the shower only to forget her towel and poked her head out to ask him to pass it to her, Stefan couldn't help but look at her smooth, pale shoulder and remember the previous night. The light in her eyes, her seductive smile, her silky hair, her magnetic movements, her flowery perfume, the way she felt... he mentally kicked himself.

Bonnie found them a few hours later, lounging in the warm bed. Stefan was reading, and next to him Caroline was scrolling through her phone.

She stumbled into the room and plopped down on Caroline's side.

"What is wrong with us? No, seriously, what?"

Caroline sighed. "It's gonna make a great story someday."

Bonnie scoffed and stared up at the ceiling. 

Stefan chuckled for her benefit. "Eternal optimist."

Caroline smiled at him, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"'Kay, I'm gonna go find Elena." Bonnie bounced up and immediately winced.

"Let me get you some aspirin."

"Had some."

"I'll come with you anyway," Caroline said hurriedly.

Bonnie looked at her with mild confusion and Caroline turned to Stefan and lightly pecked his cheek. "I'll be back soon."

With that, she was gone.

 

~*~

 

Stefan couldn't shake the feeling they'd ruined their friendship. Or that Caroline hated him now. 

It's why he agreed without hesitation when she suggested they go for a walk in the  _snow_.

"Just wear a sweater under your coat. It's freezing." He said absentmindedly.

Caroline whipped up to look at him with an expression he couldn't place. "Right, thanks. You too."

They walked until the glow of the cabin lights was distant and then Caroline was the one who broke the silence.

Hair tucked into a fuzzy cap, hands shoved into her pockets, she came to a dead halt and turned to him.

"Stefan, we're still friends right?"

He was taken aback. "Yes, of course. I just thought–"

"I know. I was dealing with some stuff, and... nevermind, it's not important. I hate thinking something isn't right between us."

He let out a sigh of relief. "Me too. I missed my friend."

"You're one of my best friends here. The thought of you not being in my life..."

Stefan's heart was no longer dead and cold.

"I'm sorry. You were just so uncharacteristically quiet, I didn't know what you were thinking."

"I know, but you were so passive, I didn't know what to say." She admitted. "We're a mess."

"A hot mess," he said with his first genuine smile that day.

"It's a genius plan, but it was bound to lead to some complicated shit."

He nodded.

Caroline let out a sigh. "Phew. Glad that's sorted. I guess alcohol really makes sex that much more amazing, huh?"

So it  _had_  been amazing for her too.

Stefan raised his eyebrows in mock offence. "That was all me, I'm pretty sure."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "You wish."

And before he knew it, she was hugging him. He hugged her back, holding her for just the right amount of time before pulling away from her warmth.

"Let's head back."

The walk back was lighter; Stefan was relieved some part of their old dynamic was back. Damon and Elena were sitting on the porch, and Stefan stopped to greet his brother.

"That was a wild night, huh little bro?"

"Tell me about it.”

"Damon, why don't we go for a long romantic walk?" Elena suggested.

Damon groaned. "Do you want us to die of hypothermia, woman?"

"Come  _on_." Elena tugged him up and they walked down the steps, hand in hand.

"He's right. It is pretty cold." Caroline said.

"Yeah, it's why we have boyfriends." Elena shot back.

Stefan looked down at her and smiled, reaching to tuck back a stray lock of hair that had escaped her cap. She smiled radiantly at him, and that was more reassuring than anything else she could have done. They were fine. They were just Stefan and Caroline, friends, fake boyfriend and girlfriend.

He took her face in her hands and kissed her gently in the glow of the sun setting on the horizon.

When they pulled away, Caroline's eyes shone with softness.

It made Stefan's heart soar.

The happiness didn't leave him for the rest of the night.

Not when the gang huddled before the fireplace after dinner with mugs of hot chocolate, chatting and joking, and Caroline nuzzled close to him on the couch as he held her close.

Not when she finally fell asleep on his lap, her head resting contentedly against his chest, blissfully warm from the fire and each other.

Not when he had to ease the thick woollen sheets off them and carried her gently to the bed, trying not to wake her up as he set her down and got in beside her.

No, the sinking feeling only returned when he unplugged his phone from the charger and checked it for the first time that day.

Three missed calls and seven texts from Lexi Branson.

He checked his call history, dreading what he knew he’d find. He'd left her two long messages, and from her texts, it looked like he'd told her everything. Reality hit him again.

What was he doing?

He'd let himself forget today that it wasn't real.

Kissing her had been way too amazing for him, and now they'd had sex.

The only thing she felt for him was friendship.

She didn't deserve him complicating things.

He didn't deserve heartbreak.

He hadn't felt this conflicted since Katherine.

Unable to get any sleep with these thoughts swirling around in his head, he got out of the cozy bed and tried the door on his side of the room, which opened into the back porch. He tried Lexi's number, but there wasn't any signal. Exhausted, he gripped the railing and looked up at the star-studded sky, breathing in the fresh air.

He stayed like that for a few minutes, breathing deeply, until he was feeling slightly more peaceful and turned around only to start at the sight of Caroline standing in the doorway, watching him.

The sweater she'd thrown on fell to her knees. The moonlight made her hair glow pale, and her eyes shone serenely, and she smiled gently at him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry, did I wake you?"

"It's fine." She walked to him and grabbed his hand, reassuringly rubbing a circle into it with her thumb before looking up at him questioningly.

"It's Katherine... I haven't thought about her in a while and... suddenly everything is reminding me of our fucked up relationship."

That wasn’t the entire truth.

Caroline's mouth formed a little 'O’ and she looked away thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry. I'm here if you want to talk."

"It's so far in the past." He didn't want to think about all of _that_  too now.

"Okay." She said simply. "Come back in, you need to sleep."

He let her lead him back to the bed, and for the first time, they cuddled close together  _before_  they fell asleep, Caroline's hand in his, Stefan gently stroking her hair, her soft body resting against his muscled one under the heavy blankets.

They told themselves it was for warmth.

Also, no point in delaying the inevitable.

Under the starlight filtering in through the glass windows, it all felt like a dream, anyway.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on an updating spree.
> 
> (Cuz I was gone for 6 months)

Caroline was right.

Something had changed between her and Stefan. It was almost imperceptible; they still got along fine, they still spent the usual relationship-worthy amount of time together. Their friends wouldn’t notice, but when they were alone…

It  _wasn’t_  just her hypersensitivity. Since returning from the cabin, this entire week they had been more reserved, less talkative, more distant.

She was sitting on the couch with Elena, trying to listen to her relationship problems, but couldn’t stop her mind from wandering to Stefan.

“–and sometimes, I just want to strangle him! But then… that’s kinda hot, don’t you think? Caroline? Care!”

Caroline started.

“I knew it. Chewing your lip and staring into the distance, the sure sign you’re not listening. Not everyone’s relationship can be perfect! I told Nadia she was dead wrong, it’s Delena that’s in trouble.”

“I’m sorry, Elena. Wait, what?”

“Oh you know, our couple name. Damon and Elena, Delena.”

“No, um, the Nadia thing.”

“Nothing, she just said she got super weird vibes from you at the cabin. Asked me if you’d broken up. Something about Liam being interested in you.”

“No, of course, we’re fine…”

“That’s what I said.”

Bonnie walked in from her room and collapsed onto the couch. “What up, ladies?”

“Nothing, I just think my relationship is dead!” Elena cried dramatically and buried her face in a cushion.

Bonnie exchanged a look with Caroline. Oh boy.

“As for me, I am  _nervous_ ,” Caroline added.

“Oh right, about your job tomorrow. Don’t stress, babe! You’re perfect for the job”

Caroline sighed. “I know. I just… am gonna obsess over it anyway.”

Bonnie looked around mournfully. “As long as we’re having a pity party, I’m terrified I’ll do something wrong and it’ll mess up a whole class of children and stay with them for the rest of their lives.”

“You are gonna be the best teacher they’ll ever have their whole damn lives, Bonnie Bennett.”

Elena extended an arm without raising her head and hugged Bonnie as she scooted into it.

“Are you guys sick or something?” Came a voice from above them a few minutes later.

The girls looked up wearily to find Stefan Salvatore standing there awkwardly.

“Oh look, it’s  _the brother_. The perfect boyfriend. Blech.” Elena muttered.

“Excuse me?”

“Hey, Stefan! What did you think of your elementary school teacher? Any lasting impressions she made on you? Or any traumas associated with first grade you can recall?”

“Uh…”

Caroline had to save the poor guy. Hauling herself up, she moved to hug him, but he moved to kiss her cheek and it resulted in a really awkward dance that left her best friends snickering.

They were painfully out of sync.

“I’m uh, cooking you dinner. Because of tomorrow.” Stefan announced.

Caroline was touched. “Aw, thank you!”

Moments like these, it hurt to remember none of this was real. To see what they could have for real, but didn’t.

She followed him across the hall and to the Salvatore loft and perched on the kitchen counter, finding it had become an all too familiar spot.

Enzo and Damon greeted her distractedly from the TV and continued gaming. Stefan put some music on his phone to drown the sounds of virtual shooting out and Caroline watched him cook.

Nothing could drown out the memories of the rave from her mind. That night had been mind-blowing. It was an unfair joke on the universe’s part that what she’d told the girls a few days ago turned out to be so completely true: Stefan was the best sex she’d ever had. He made her feel things no other guys had, so easily it seemed almost too natural. Caroline couldn’t get it out of her head for too long, no matter how hard she tried.

She was over being mad at herself for it, though. Now she just had to focus on acting normal with Stefan. On both sides; alone and in front of the others.

It was going to be over soon, she kept telling herself. She wasn’t sure the thought brought more relief or heartache.

“How cheesy do you want the pasta?” Stefan asked.

“Did you say pasta, mate?” Came Enzo’s voice.

“Yeah, but I only made enough sauce for two. Sorry.” Stefan called back.

“Ugh. Pause the game, Enzo, I’m going to order some pizza.” Damon stalked into view holding his phone to his ear, glaring at Stefan.

“Chill out, Damon. He’s just being a good boyfriend” Caroline playfully raised her leg to stop Stefan when he passed by her. He turned to her with an easy smile and she rested her arms on his shoulders, nudging him closer to the counter with her legs. His hands moved to rest on her waist and he kissed her forehead gently.

She swallowed. She was expecting a normal kiss, and this threw her.

Fortunately, Damon and his grumbling came to the rescue.

“Do you two really need to flaunt your perfect relationship in our faces all the time? Some of us have actual problems, you know. I could throw up. Enzo, tell Steffy I could actually throw up.”

Enzo came into view and grabbed a bit of cheese. “Sorry, guys. I think he’s having some relationship problems with El–”

“Shut up, Lorenzo!”

Enzo raised his hands in defeat and swirled a finger near his ear, signalling that Damon had lost it.

Well. Caroline could have predicted that the day they met.

“I blame you four for setting such annoyingly high relationship standards that Elena gets mad at me for everything.”

“Just go talk to each other maybe?” She suggested.

“We just end up having sex,” Damon said glumly.

Stefan pursed his lips with a look that was a mixture of both disinterest and defeat and then went back to cooking.

“Extra cheesy,” Caroline whispered to him. “What the hell, treat yo self, right?”

Damon glowered. “That’s not a problem for you two, is it? I mean both the cheesiness  _and_  the sex. The last place I expected to find you drunk Hufflepuffs was upstairs in one of the rooms, but…”

Despite her best efforts, Caroline blushed.

“Back off, Damon.” Stefan snapped, noticing how visibly uncomfortable she was.

“Talk to your girlfriend instead of being a baby,” Enzo said helpfully.

“And we are Gryffindors! Or maybe Ravenclaws.” Caroline added.

“I never figured out which I am,” Enzo muttered.

 

~*~

 

Caroline couldn’t stop giggling.

“Candles? Seriously?”

“It’s what I’d do at this point in a relationship, especially on a special occasion,” Stefan said simply.

“Okay, then, I will dress appropriately for your fancy candlelight dinner and be right back.” She laughed and made her way back to her loft.

“Come on, no need” Stefan called after her, but no way was she letting an opportunity to dress up like this go. This was so unnecessary and fun. And cute. None of her exes had ever done stuff like this. But Stefan… it had only been a few weeks and he remained perfect. It was unbelievable. Who wouldn’t want him for real, brooding and messed up exes and all?

“Don’t you look cheerful. Going out?” Bonnie asked from the couch as Caroline walked to the door in strappy heels, eyeing her black gown and elegantly pinned up bangs.

“Nope, candlelight dinner courtesy of Stefan.”

Bonnie smiled. “Have fun!”

Stefan’s eyes widened slightly when he saw her. She’d never get tired of that reaction, she thought happily as she sat down on the chair he pulled out.

She grinned and then raised her eyebrows at him.

He didn’t look too bad himself. Oh, who was he kidding, she was probably mirroring his expression. Stefan Salvatore in a suit made her feel things she shouldn’t be feeling anymore. Or at all. Ever.

“Well as long as we were both committed to the fanciness of tonight,” Stefan explained. “Damon’s sulking in his room” he added quietly.

Caroline nodded. 

Honestly, they could probably go on like this for months. They were friends,  _allies_ , and it’s not like that much had changed. They hadn’t kissed since they’d got back, and they didn’t even have to talk about what had happened again. It was like they both wanted to forget anything that hadn’t been part of the plan. It was better that way.  Everything was fine.

“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” Stefan asked her as he handed her a glass of wine. They’d agreed it wasn’t hard liquor and wouldn’t do any harm.

“A little… okay yes. I want to make a good first impression, get along with the others, prove myself, you know?”

He looked thoughtful. “You’ll be great. Just relax today, get a good night’s sleep.”

She couldn’t help but stare at the shadows the candlelight cast upon his angular face.

“This is amazing,” she exclaimed as she tried the pasta. “Why aren’t you a chef again?”

“Thank you. Why aren’t you an actress again?”

“Ha ha, very funny.”

“The career options are unlimited” Stefan sighed.

“A true power couple.”

Once they’d polished the food and wine and were about to go chill in her loft, Stefan suddenly told her to wait and ducked into his room.

He came out carrying a small velvet box.

“Almost forgot about this.”

Caroline froze. Her heart literally stopped. Marrying a guy this perfect was the dream, and she’d gladly marry Stefan Salvatore (it would certainly fix the problem of her feelings for him being real), but they were too young, they’d  _just_  met, and really what the fuck.

Stefan stopped in his tracks when he saw the look on her face.

“Stefan, we’re fake dating, no one said anything about marriage!” She hissed, finding her voice once she saw the ridiculous look on his face.

Stefan looked like a confused puppy, and Caroline felt an instant rush of endearment. Damn it.

“What? No… that’s not… Caroline, it’s a gift I got for you.” He gave the box to her and she opened it curiously, and what the saw took her breath away.

It was a pendant, simple yet beautiful. A deep blue star outlined in silver. The gleaming stone looked like lapis lazuli, and the faint patterns under its surface only added to its charm.

“Oh my god. It’s gorgeous. Thank you, Stefan.” She reached up to kiss his cheek. “You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to. It reminded me of you. Plus, you know, big gesture and all. You said to take care of it.”

Caroline’s heart sank as realisation dawned on her.

Of course that’s what it was.

Before she could collect herself and say something about going to go sleep, the door burst open and in the doorway stood a very determined looking Elena Gilbert.

“Salvatore!” She called out. “We need to talk!”

Enzo emerged from Damon’s room and on seeing Bonnie hanging behind in the hallway, made a speedy exit with her to god knows where. Their beloved diner, probably.

Elena’s gaze landed on the couple standing in the living room. “Oh hey, Stefan. I didn’t mean you. Aw, you guys look pretty.  _Wait, is that a–”_

“Pendant!” Caroline held the box up quickly.

“It’s so cute!”

“Like hell, we need to talk.” They turned to find Damon standing in his doorway. The couple was facing off from opposite ends of the living room and Caroline and Stefan exchanged a look that clearly said ‘run’.

“Stefan, let’s go to my room. I can thank you for this properly.” Caroline winked hurriedly, well aware of how comical it would have looked, and practically dragged Stefan to her loft.

They collapsed against the closed door, safely away from what was going to be a messy fight.

Caroline ducked into the bathroom to change into her pyjamas and washed the makeup off, running her hands through her hair to loosen the pinned locks.

The sight of Stefan sitting on her bed and smiling at her as she got in next to him, made her heart flip-flop against her will.

“So I’m going to sleep now. Feel free to crash here if you want to avoid, you know.” Caroline pulled the comforter over her shoulder.

Stefan took off his shoes and got in beside her. “Okay, thanks.”

When she moved to rest her head on his shoulder, Caroline told herself it had nothing to do with habit. She didn’t prefer to sleep next to him. She wasn’t  _that_  far gone.

 

~*~

 

When Caroline woke up, Stefan was gone, but she didn’t dwell on it. All her thoughts were focussed on her first day of work.

She grabbed a piece of toast, quickly hugged the girls, and rushed, determined not to be late.

 

~*~

 

The day went by smoothly.

Caroline had gotten along with the other two assistants, a goth-looking young woman and a blonde guy, just fine. Her boss and her other co-workers seemed nice enough, and the work looked interesting. The girl had shown her around the place and explained her job to her, and by late afternoon, Caroline was free. Her work hours weren’t that long. Plus, it was the first day, and she just had to shadow them.

Once she was home, she watched some reality TV with Bonnie until she left for Enzo’s for the night, and then Caroline was alone with the daunting task of cooking dinner for herself.

Suddenly, a much better alternative presented itself to her. She dialled Stefan’s number.

“Hey, wanna check out that diner? I wanted to get some dinner.”

It wasn’t too much, she told herself. Friends went for night-time walks to eat meals outside all the time. She may feel more for him because of their messed up situation, but they were still  _friends_ , and that’s what his presence was for her. She kept telling herself that. 


End file.
